The voice that needs no introductions and is known as ‘The Voice Of The UFC’! The voice that’s infamous for the iconic “It’s Time!” Well, if you haven’t guessed already, it is indeed Bruce Buffer. The beloved UFC announcer recently sat down with EssentiallySports Fancast for an Exclusive interview, before moving on to introduce the contenders at UFC 302 next weekend. Our exclusive covered a boatload of topics from the announcer’s life. But did you know that he once rolled with Royce Gracie much before the UFC existed? 

During the freewheeling conversation, host Andrew Whitelaw asked Buffer his preference between getting tapped out and knocked out. “Oh, tapped out“, came the reply. It was indeed a logical response, as per Whitelaw. The veteran voice of the Octagon revealed that he used to practice kickboxing. Needless to say, the world of kickboxing offered him plenty of chances to get knocked out. However, there was one instance that seemingly changed his mind about striking. That’s when Royce Gracie made an entry into Buffer’s life. 

Buffer: I’ve been knocked out. I’d rather be tapped out. I was tapped out by Royce Gracie in 1991, when I went over to his dojo and he pulled into a room for one of the Gracie challenger fight things.  

Whitelaw then recalled the one time when Meisha Tate choked him out. He seemed to know exactly what it was like. But getting tapped out for the first time is quite an experience. 

Buffer: That was 1991, that was 2 years before the UFC ever came on the scene and a famous director named John Milius, who did ‘Conan: The Barbarian’ and ‘Red Dawn’ and all these great movies, directed and wrote them. He asked me to come train with him and Royce Gracie back in ‘91. He said ‘come train at the Gracie studio’. He said, ‘Have you ever done jiu-jitsu?’ I go, I was kickboxing pretty heavy, back then. And I said, ‘I train jiu-jitsu.’ He says, ‘You never trained Gracie jiu-jitsu’. And he took me over to the dojo and out comes this young, maybe 20 something, 160 pound, 6’1’’, young man, and ‘Hi, my name is Royce, come with me’. Took me into a room, closed the doors, all padded up.”

And that was when Buffer noticed the beaming confidence in the young man’s eyes as he refused to wear gloves while asking the announcer to come at him. 

Buffer: Then he goes, ‘I understand you’re a kickboxer. Come at me. Take my head off’, right? And it was funny. I said, ‘You want to put on some gloves?’ He goes, ‘No. Let’s just do this.’ So we went at it, right? And 45 seconds later he has me, maybe 40, I don’t know. It’s called 45. He had me down on the ground with a side choke and he goes, ‘tap, tap, tap.’ Because he was getting me, right? And I tapped out. I’ll never forget it. He gets up into guard, straightens out his gi and says, ‘See? Isn’t it nice not to get hit in the face?’ Right? 

It was quite an experience for the 67-year-old announcer. Nevertheless, the BJJ legend had succeeded in impressing one of the cores of the UFC. This was reflected in Buffer’s voice as he first saw Gracie step into the Octagon two years later to face Ken Shamrock, Gerard Gordeau and  ‘One Glove’ Art Jimmerson. Doubtlessly, Gracie had Buffer’s support.

Buffer: And then 2 years later, he comes out in the UFC and I’m watching with, with family and friends, and I go, ‘See that skinny kid right there? He’s gonna beat everybody. Watch! He’s gonna beat everybody!’ We all know what happened from that point forward.”

Bruce Buffer regrets not training in the arts of Jiu-Jitsu

After the veteran announcer narrated the story that dated back to the UFC’s infancy, Whitelaw was left flabbergasted. He deemed the story a ‘folklore’. Buffer then revealed one of his regrets that he still carries to this date. It was indeed not training with Gracie.

It was Rorian Gracie who introduced jiu-jitsu to the international audience, and Royce Gracie was the one to execute it with great finesse in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. As the UFC began gaining attention, the art of grappling and submitting one’s opponents grew in popularity. The fighting community began looking at BJJ as a strong weapon to add to their arsenal. Of course, Buffer thought so too. Unfortunately, Gracie’s dojo was a bit too far for Buffer, and he had to give up on the idea of continuing his training. 

Buffer said, “One regret I have is I didn’t continue training with him. Because obviously, if I had started training in jiu-jitsu back then to the level I’d be here today. But it was too far of a drive. That’s one of my one regret. It’s that I didn’t continue. We, we see each other. We kid each other about it all the time.” 

You can explore and purchase Buffer’s ‘It’s Time’ fragrances here, and get a taste of his energy drink here.

Buffer is, in fact, a formidable kickboxer with two black belts under his name. Although he didn’t proceed with a fighter’s career, he has introduced the fighters for 28 years, garnering the credit for hyping up the fighters right before the opening bell. With his unmatched charisma and love for the sport, Buffer has turned his voice into a member without which the UFC can’t survive.

To hear more of Bruce Buffer’s tales, catch the latest EssentiallySports Fancast Exclusive episode dropping on May 24 at 9 PM PST.