Ex UFC voice Mike Goldberg reacts to famous flubs, ‘Michael Jordan of BJJ’ having son named Jourdan

Legendary combat sports commentator, , spent nearly two decades with the , starting in 1997 and making his exit in 2016. He then spent about four years as a voice for from 2017 to 2021. Now, the one they call ‘Goldie’ is commentating some bare knuckle at on January 18th, which is a Thursday show.

Before sitting Trigon side, Mike Goldberg caught up with Bloody Elbow for an interview. Mike Goldberg spoke about how he linked up with Extreme, versus how he used to try and score gigs in the olden days. He also mentions how he gets to say his catchphrase ‘It’s all over’ much more frequently now working a bare knuckle event than he did working MMA cards.

With Bellator’s sale to the , I asked Mike about what the future might look like for one . Being a good sport, Goldie also relived some of his most famous flubs from over the years, from Watt Miman to the Progidy, which will forever live on through fight lore. I also got to be the one to inform him that Travis Lutter, A.K.A.

‘the of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu,’ actually has a son named Jourdan, and he actually just won his MMA debut by RNC in the first round last October. Bloody Elbow will be on location for the BYB Extreme 23 event on January 18th, so make sure to follow along on our social media platforms to see and hear some of the hustle and bustle.

If you happen to be in South Florida and want to attend then you can purchase your tickets . Eddie Mercado: Mr. Mike Goldberg! How did you link up with BYB Extreme, and do you score gigs yourself, or have an agent? Mike Goldberg: It used to be back in the day you would send a tape. I remember being very poor college graduate and you had to send these three quarter tapes back then, Eddie and you had to make sure the label was right.

Because if you spell the news director’s name wrong, that tape, they don’t even put that tape in the machine. And justifiably so. But I was going broke $7.00 at a pop and then it finally got a gig. But nowadays I was very fortunate. I’ve got a long standing relationship with our Hall of Fame matchmaker Mel Valenzuela.

And the minute that Bellator moved to Showtime and Mauro Ranallo was already full time at Showtime. I lost my Bellator gig only because of a network change and it was disappointing to say the least, cause I enjoyed all the people at Bellator. I love MMA, Big John McCarthy, my broadcast partner. But you know they say it all the time.

Everything happens for a reason. Mike Vasquez, our owner, asked Mel, ‘hey, would Goldie want to fly down to an event? I’ll fly him down. Love to just meet him.’ And that’s how BYB began. Mike Goldberg: And I’ll tell you, Eddie, when I looked and did a little homework on BYOB, there were a couple of early shows where Al Bernstein was part of the commentary team.

And I have huge respect obviously for Al Bernstein, his knowledge, his tenure, he’s a legend. He’s a Hall of Famer and I’m like alright, these guys are taking it seriously. They’re bringing Al in that. That’s a big statement. It was in Miami. It was down at the County Fair center. I walk in, I see Paulie Malignaggi.

I’ve never met Paulie before, but we met a million times just, you know, kind of in the business. And I was like, ohh, holy there. They just took serious to another level, and so I saw that Paulie was involved and then I hit it off with Mike and the crew. And you know, my next show was the next show and we’ve just continued to grow from there.

And it’s been fun being part of the journey. But for that, it was Mel Valenzuela saying, Goldie I got a gig for you, they just want to meet you. Don’t be yourself, and you’ll probably have an opportunity to get the gig. EM: Were you surprised that Bellator sold to the PFL? Mike Goldberg: Not if you look at it as Bellator.

I was surprised because of Bellator, cause the product is outstanding, but it’s owned by Viacom and Viacom is a big machine that’s been losing a lot of money. And I mean, look at all the layoffs recently. For example, at ESPN, owned by Disney and so in the big spectrum of things, Eddie with Viacom.

That that move with Bellator did not surprise me a lot. Now if you would have said Bellator was still owned by Scott Coker, like back in the days of Strikeforce, I would say wait, they got great fighters, they’re fine. They just need a perfect platform and they can continue to roll and put on some great shows.

But it being part of the bigger picture, which was also the reason for the move with Showtime Boxing, is Viacom being more of that cog in a corporate wheel. That part did not surprise me, but I am excited to see the PFL and Bellator as one now, and will it be as one, will it be one and the other? And then we’ll have these super fights.

I know one thing. Everybody’s extremely excited about it, and I’m happy for all of my friends at Bellator who will make the move, and especially for the fighters who are gonna get some marquee matchups, even more so than they were able to get under the Bellator flag. EM: I’ve been following the sport since I can remember, and if it’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that Scott Coker is going to pop up with a new awesome promotion just any second now.

What do you think is next for Scott? Mike Goldberg: I’ll tell you what, he’s the man. We stay in touch all the time. Ironically, he was texting me when my Bengals beat his Niners many weeks ago, and that was with Joe Burrow. Now the Bengals have officially been eliminated, so football has been eliminated to my mind, especially in the college game.

With that school up north being a Buckeye. Go, Huskies, go, U Dub. It’ll be interesting. Scott can retire if he would like to, and that’s a testimony to everything he has done as a businessman, but more so his love and passion for the fight game and the opportunities he’s given dozens and dozens of dozens of not just fighters, but staff and production, and you name it, he’s done it all.

And he was going to hang it up after the Strikeforce sale to Zuffa and his time at the UFC, and back in the day Kevin Kay was the general manager. He was basically the vice president of Spike, he was very high up on the on the food chain at Viacom, a guy I worked closely with when the UFC was on Spike.

And they had lunch, and Kevin and Scott hit it off. And then Scott said, alright, if we’re gonna do this Bellator thing, let’s do it right. I would say, you know, I think it would simplify unfairly to Scott to just say everything he touches turns to gold, although everything he touches turns to gold.

But that is because of his work ethic, his passion, his ability to get a great team and a great family around him. Scott’s got his 49ers season tickets. He’s courtside for his Warriors. He did give up his Shark season tickets and as a Sharks fan myself, I can’t say I blame him, hoping he’ll get him back when the Sharks get good again.

So whatever Scott does, he’s earned. But if Scott dips his toe in the water again, watch for whatever pool that he dips his toe into to be one that is on the radar very prominently. Very quickly. He is. He’s one of the people out there in this business that I admire more than anyone, or as much as anyone, Eddie.

And I’m very honored to call him my friend. He’s good people, plain and simple. EM: As soon as I heard that the PFL deal officially went through, my very first thought was what Scott’s next promotion going to be. And if he retires, then good on him. Mike Goldberg: He has earned it and you know, one of my thoughts was what’s Scott gonna do, and then another thought was okay, George Greenberg, who was my mentor at Fox and my TV hero as an executive, has been running the production for the PFL for many, many years.

And now they’re going to have all these shows in… You know what I’m getting at, but we’re going to focus on BYOB. We’re going to focus on ProBox, and if other gigs come my way because of the move, then it would just be great to be reunited with my friends and and perhaps have a chance to work with John again.

But I’ll tell you and Eddie, I’m sure you operate the same way when you’re going through, you know, a transition, if you will. And I mean, I did nothing wrong at Bellator yet all of a sudden Bellator was gone. And for Mike Vasquez to reach out and to accept me in his family and to treat me the way he has treated me since day one, BYB is my bloodline.

BYB is my DNA, and I want to be part of the reason, there’s many parts and there’s many pieces that BYOB takes over… So my commitment to Mike Vasquez and by BYOB family is as deep as it gets, so nothing will ever be a conflict. EM: BYB is doing a Thursday show, right? Mike Goldberg: Yeah, we’re mixing it up.

And I think we might, Eddie look to do a Thursday more often. We’ve got some Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays on the schedule right now. We’re on beIN SPORTS, and so a lot of it happens to do with, you know, syncing up with your primary broadcast carrier, or streamer in this day and age. A lot of it has to do with the venue.

But at ProBox TV, we went to Wednesday night fights, and we did it on purpose because we have an A side and another A side at Pro Box TV. And why go up against Fridays and Saturdays, and why not go back to the olden days of Marv Albert and ‘The Fight Doctor’ Ferdie Pacheco, and make it a Wednesday night staple for ProBox.

So if BYB becomes your Thursday night staple, your Thursday night place to go for bare knuckle, then let’s establish that. EM: What would you say is the biggest takeaway from a BYB Extreme event, compared to an MMA show or traditional boxing event? Mike Goldberg: 75% of the people in attendance or watching on TV, when a fight goes to the ground, they still boo.

There’s still some kind of disappointment, and I’m not taking anything away from Jiu Jitsu or wrestling or the ground game. It’s just the human nature. They want to see people stand in trade. That’s what you get with BYB. That’s what you get with bare knuckle fighting. There’s nowhere to move around either, like there is in a boxing ring where you can be a runner, you can be a counterpuncher.

You can just jab, jab, jab and not engage. You don’t have a choice but to engage. So when you walk into a BYB event, be ready to be impressed with the athleticism, the toughness, I mean just the pure heart, skill, grit of these fighters, and I get to say IT’S ALL OVER if we have 10 fights, 8 or 9 times a night, you know.

And instead of inside the Octagon, it’s inside the Trigon. EM: For every hater, there’s at least two fight nerds who appreciate the little hiccups. For example, you saying Travis Lutter was the Michael Jordan of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu is iconic at this point. Mike Goldberg: So before every fight, I would meet with Joe Silva when he was still the matchmaker at the UFC, and Sean Shelby.

And we’re going through the fights, we’re breaking it down and what Joe told me later, as he smacked me upside the head as he said, ‘not everyone can be the Michael Jordan of Brazilian Jujitsu.’ While I was doing all my prep and listening to Joe, I thought he said that Travis Lutter was like the Michael Jordan of Brazilian Jujitsu.

And I threw it out there and Joe just like boom, he just gave me the kidney shot. And then I go , , and I don’t even know if Joe’s really watched a lot of Michael Jordan. You know, he always talks about not caring about any other sport. But that was one that I actually just heard wrong from our matchmaker, but one that’s always talked about.

EM: So, Travis Luter’s son, his name is Jourdan! Mike Goldberg: Nooooo! EM: I’m not even with you. Listen, he just made his MMA debut in October, and won with the rear naked choke in the first round. Jourdan Lutter. The prophecy is being fulfilled, my guy. Mike Goldberg: I’m telling you, and like I said, you know Travis Lutter will someday have a son named Jourdan.

It might not be Michael Jordan, but that Jordan will be outstanding. That’s awesome. That’s awesome. EM: The fight fans really do appreciate it, even like the little hiccups, you can call mistakes or whatever. But we definitely appreciate them. Even I remember had a fight coming up and you said.

Mike Goldberg: WATT MIMAM! EM: WATT MIMAM! And now that’s a term of endearment between friends. I’m not even kidding. You’ve made your mark on on combat sports. Mike Goldberg: And I want to know what the heck a is. And then I tried to say it again. Joe’s looking at me. I tried it. OK. is one of my favorite fighters, also still one of my closest friends.

I know the prodigy. Why he was the prodigy for a second that night. And why all of a sudden I couldn’t say prodigy? I have no idea. So I’m pretty sure after I got through that stand up and Joe going, ‘Ah,’ you know, making fun of me as it happened, I probably just went Baby Jay the rest of that fight.

But prodigy. I got it back. I got it now. And hey, you know what? Maybe BJ will have a family member, or a son, or even a daughter who he will say because of my friend Goldie, I’m going to have my son, who’s an outstanding fighter, be the instead of the prodigy. Just like Travis Lutter has a kid named Jourdan.

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We’re fighting for the sport, the fighters and the fans. Please help us by subscribing today. Eddie Mercado is a writer and content creator for Bloody Elbow, and has covered combat sports since 2015. Eddie covers everything from betting odds and live events, to fighter interviews and co hosting the 6th Round post fight show and the 6th Round Retro.

He retired at 1 0 in professional MMA, competed in one Muay Thai match in Thailand, and is currently a purple belt in Jiu Jitsu under the great Diego Bispo..