I am getting tired of commentators telling me what I am seeing when it is clear that they are simply trying to be controversial, attempting to stay relevant or build the fight drama. “Oh he is rocked!” - fighter clearly not rocked or the knee didn’t even land. Saying that Edward’s has given up and then he knocks out Usman, or more recently saying that Poirier was exhausted after one round and then he knocks out Saint Denis?! It is getting really ridiculous. I am disgusted when a fight ends in a TKO from a nice right hook and Rogan, Anik or another commentator states, “that is the greatest right hand in the history of the UFC”. Oooook. Yes, it was a nice punch but a massive stretch to rank it as #1 in history. OAT (of all time) is waaaaay overused in so many ways.
I think fans are so much more educated today, making typical commentary statements like “he is looking for the triangle” much less relevant. In particular, I feel like Joe Rogan is past his shelf life. Love the guy but it may be time to stick to JRE. Having former champs like Cormier, Bisping, or Cruz, demonstrating a master class in describing action, is causing Rogan, Anik and others to over compensate. Is their only option to stay relevant by making shocking statements or try to predict a fighter’s fitness, next move, or what the fight ending sequence will be? There is something to be said for shutting the eff up sometimes. Either speak less and be accurate, or just STFU.
Agree and disagree. I was super happy Edwards came back and won, and the Poirier tko was fuckin awesome; but imo Edwards looked defeated, and not just like he was losing the fight. And Dustin looked unsteady and pretty damn tuckered out from the grappling heavy first round. So while I agree with your sentiment 100%, I feel you could’ve chosen better examples to make your case. Because you are correct and these clowns do this type shit regularly.
I don’t think Dustin looked exhausted but more so he looked a little worried. He was calm but still had that “what is this guy gonna do” energy about him. But I didn’t think his gas tank was empty. There’s no way a young guy who had never been five rounds has a better gas tank than a guy who has been five rounds and gone to war as much as Poirier has.
Yeah, exhausted was an exaggeration for sure. But I thought he looked weary and not just mentally. His movements looked kinda labored to me. But that may have had something to do with him getting rocked early too.
I don’t think the 17 guillotine attempts helped his energy levels either. I can’t imagine trying to punch a guy in the face right after I just squeezed his neck as hard as I could for 30 seconds.
I agree for the most part. The over exaggeration has gotten a lot worse lately. Rogan and DC are the worst offenders. Sometimes it just feels like you are at a BW3 watching the fights with 2 drunk knuckleheads shouting. I think the UFC thinks this is better for the mainstream audience.
I am fairly new to the commentary game. I’ve done about a dozen events and the longer I do it the more confident I feel in drawing conclusions from what I’m seeing… the problem is nobody remembers you being very specific and very accurate 30 times in a row, but the mistakes are very glaring.
Last night I counted a fighter out… he was exhausted, rocked, covering up looking for the canvas and I confidently said as much… then he cracks the guy with an overhand.
When this happens I just say something like “I have to eat my words…” or “He made a fool of me!” immediately and call the action.
It’s difficult to objectively measure commentator accuracy when they are largely making guesses based on personal experience.
In Rogans case I believe he knows damn well what he is seeing, he’s been involved in the sport for a long while. It is just his personality, or his act if you prefer, to comment the way he does. He has always been like this, it certainly isn’t ignorance of the sport.
Great point @Dryfly, it makes me wonder whether his style of commentating is becoming obsolete because fans are more educated or is he just getting more dramatic because he thinks people hang on his every word due to JRE?
