Bruce Buffer is the "Voice of the Octagon," the UFC's fight announcer. His path to the octagon started long before he got there, and his brother Michael is a fight announcer too.
The early days
Bruce Buffer was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1957. He's the grandson of former flyweight boxer Johnny Buff, so fighting runs in the family. At thirteen he started studying judo and reached green belt.
He moved to Malibu, California, with his family at fifteen and met two of Chuck Norris' pupils, who showed him Tang Soo Do. He holds a second-degree black belt in it. He began kickboxing in his twenties but had to stop at 32 after a concussion.
Bruce recalled: "I had a match which I won but took a lot of damage. The guy belted me pretty good," he said. "The next day, I was hurting all over, and I was slurring my words. The doctor asked me if I was making any money off this, and I told him, 'No, I'm a businessman, and I do this for kicks.' He told me straight up that if I didn't stop, this is what my life would look like when I was 50. I did a lot of soul searching and decided to give it up."
Bruce enters the UFC
Buffer talked his way into announcing the opening bouts at UFC 8. Semaphore tried out several announcers, but Buffer used a connection to get himself cast as a UFC commentator on an episode of the television show "Friends."
He is quoted as saying: "I called them back afterward and said, 'Look, I was just on one of the most popular shows in the country as the face of your company. You pretty much have to use me now, don't you?"
He kept pestering them until his chance came at UFC 10, when he announced his first singles match as a replacement for the then-standard cage announcer.
Buffer then convinced UFC owner Robert Meyrowitz to hire him as the full-time ring announcer. His first fight announcement in that role came at UFC 13 on May 30, 1997.
Buffer is known for his work rate, announcing between 35 and 40 events a year.
When asked if he rehearses his lines at home, he said: "The thing is, you can't really rehearse this," he continued. "I can't sit here in my house and yell, 'The Iiiiiceman, Chuck Liiiid-dell!' The only time you can go 100 percent is when you're in front of the crowd and feeling their energy. You have to adjust. You don't announce an undercard match if the crowd isn't into it, the same way you announce the main event, like when Chuck's music is playing, and everyone in the crowd is on their feet."
The voice of the fight world
His brother Michael Buffer is maybe even more famous. Michael started announcing in 1982. Michael's catchphrase is "Let's Get Ready to Rumble," and Bruce's is "It's time!"
Michael is better known in boxing and professional wrestling as the top fight announcer, and Bruce in MMA. Their styles differ slightly: one smooth and dignified, as befits boxing, the other a bit raw and energetic, which suits MMA.
Bruce didn't meet his half-brother until he was 29. He only found out who Michael was when people kept asking whether they were related.
After learning that he and Michael grew up only twenty kilometers from each other, his father finally admitted he had a half-brother. Bruce contacted Michael, they met and grew closer, and Bruce eventually became his manager, which he remains to this day.