Former UFC play-by-play ace Mike Goldberg has revealed a “fluke” meeting he had with Dana White.
Goldberg had been the voice of the UFC for 19 years. His run with the promotion began at the end of 1997 and came to a close at the end of 2016. The UFC decided it wasn’t going to renew Goldberg’s contract. Jon Anik has served as Goldberg’s replacement since.
By chance, Goldberg ran into White in Las Vegas following his UFC departure as he revealed during his appearance on Real Talk with Kelsey and Rachel. Goldberg coached his son’s hockey team for a tournament. His son then alerted him (h/t Heavy.com):
“Dad, That’s Dana!”
Goldberg approached Dana, who greeted him in the exact fashion one would expect.
“What the f*** are you doing here?”
Dana’s greeting was friendly and Goldberg said that’s the typical way the UFC boss greets people. Goldberg admitted, however, that the encounter was awkward.
“I walked up, and I said, ‘Hey, Dana, how are you?’ We shook hands. I said I’d love to stay in touch. He said we should do that. And there you go. After that amount of time, it was just an awkward situation…
“It was a fluke, but then again maybe it was meant to be.”
Goldberg soon became the voice of Bellator along with Mauro Ranallo. Due to Mauro’s Showtime Boxing commitments, Goldberg ended up calling most of Bellator’s events. Once Bellator was moved to Showtime, Goldberg was ousted from the play-by-play role.
Since his Bellator exit, Goldberg has been calling fights for smaller promotions. On July 16, he’ll be in the booth for BYB 6. The BYB Extreme Fighting Series features bare-knuckle fighting.
