Justin Bernard says he would have worked for the UFC for free after writing this goal down.
Bruce Buffer has no plans to retire anytime soon and with him being such an iconic part of the UFC, he’s not going anywhere.
However, the promotion’s consistent schedule of events means that it isn’t just the veteran voice of the Octagon that gets to announce fights hosted by the sport’s leading MMA promotion.
Ahead of Bernard’s second UFC Fight Night assignment, he recalled how being a UFC announcer was a dream that came true just months after he visualized it.
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Justin Bernard is down for whatever the UFC want him to do after initially thinking audition call was a joke
Justin Bernard may have announced his first UFC Fight Night event last month but he’s been cutting his teeth in the sport’s leading promotion for many years.
An audition for Dana White’s Contender Series came after he only started being an announcer for Las Vegas-based promotion Tuff-N-Uff because that role was the only vacant spot.
Bernard recently told Bloody Elbow that when the UFC call came, he didn’t believe at first despite him writing this down as one of his personal goals not long before it became a reality.
“One of them was, for some odd reason, I don’t know why, I don’t know if it was because I saw an episode of Contender Series and I was like, man, that would be a killer opportunity,” he said. “Either that or Ultimate Fighter because it’s here in Vegas, I’m local, I’d do it for free… In a matter of months, I got a call from the UFC and I thought it was a joke to begin with.”
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Since then, Bernard has worked other events like UFC BJJ and Road to UFC before getting to make his Fight Night debut at the Meta Apex.
Taking these other assignments is something that he said he doesn’t even need to think twice about it after what the promotion has done for him.
“Even if it was a one episode thing for Contender Series, I would have been ecstatic,” Bernard added. “So, I’m here for everything they throw at me, everything they want to try. In many ways, the UFC, Zack Candido, Dana White, they saved my life. I was going through a bit of a dip a few years ago with personal life so I ride with them wherever they go.”
Bernard will announce his second UFC Fight Night event on July 25, when the promotion returns to the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.