Announcing MMA action is not an easy job.
Despite the glamour of being cage side at big fights close enough to the action to be sprayed with sweat or blood, announcing requires sharp concentration and a knowledgeable eye.
That said, there are a few cliches that seem to crop up every MMA broadcast and cause the hardcore fans to roll their eyes and laugh upon hearing them again. The superlatives and hyperbole fly as fast as the punches!
There are even drinking games for those watching whenever fans hear a famous cliche.
The Jiu-Jitsu Times does not advocate binge drinking, but don’t let that stop you from being on the lookout for these top MMA cliches.
1) “In the greatest shape of his life!”
If this were true, then fighters who have had thirty or more pro fights must have taken a really slack approach to training in their earliest bouts. For this continuous, linear improvement to be accurate, one must ask if they were they holding back all of those previous fights.
I don’t recall an announcer saying “He has not even been training (maybe Tank Abbott?) and just showing up for the pay day.”
Every fighter seems to have uncorked a new found level of motivation and dedication, each surpassing his previous preparations.
2) “No one trains harder in the gym!”
How can this be possible if it is said about more than one guy? .
There can be only one hardest training fighter ever, yet it seems that every event has a new hardest trainer ever.
Randy Couture, Forrest Griffin, and many others have been described as hardest training fighter ever.
Somehow, they all train harder than each other!
3) “Losing that fight was the best thing that could have happened!”
I understand taking lemons and making lemonade after a difficult loss, but I heard this said after a UFC fighter got knocked out and lost his title.
Is getting concussed and losing your title REALLY the best thing that could have happened? I would be so bold as to say that winning a performance of the night bonus of $50,000 and keeping the title would have been the best thing!
Sometimes the announcers can get carried away with the hyperbole.
4) “Will be back stronger next time”
This has become the automatic response in the aftermath of a devastating loss in pro MMA. I’m going to cut some slack to the announcer as it is a difficult emotional moment for a fighter moments after losing in front of an audience of millions.
But that said, it has become the stock response that is parroted nearly every time after a fighter loses.
5) “Those guys are SO fast!!”
This is often used for the lightest weight class in the UFC: the flyweight division, currently ruled by the excellent Demetrious Johnson.
Despite Demetrious Johnson having finished several of his last few fights, the lighter divisions statistically have the lowest finishing rate.
Many MMA fans often head for the washroom when the lightest fighters come on.
In an effort to promote enthusiasm, you can hear the announcers constantly exclaiming “how incredibly fast!” the flyweight fighters are.
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