Highlighting some of the fighters who turned into successful MMA analysts
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There are a good handful of former and current MMA fighters who either commentate or cover MMA in some shape or form. Here, I want to highlight some of the best ones out there (this list is in no particular order).
Chael Sonnen
Chael Sonnen does a mix of different commentary for the UFC. The most frequent channel, being his YouTube blog; where he breaks down MMA fights, possibilities, theories, fan questions, his own personal philosophies and a whole lot more. Sonnen covers everything on his YouTube channel and even though it’s just YouTube, I’m telling you, its great stuff. If you have never watched any content from Chael Sonnen’s YouTube channel, I highly recommend that you do so. You will not be disappointed.
We have also seen Chael do some commentary on many UFC post-fight shows. Often times he pops up after or before a UFC Fight Night, sometimes for a PPV event, etc.
Chael brings a very interesting dynamic to the table, when it comes to his commentary. He brings a mix of both genuine knowledge of the sport and comedic relief. Many of his comments are believed to be total satire, although many people have still yet to catch on to this and take many of the things he says seriously. Chael is a guy who you have to watch a good amount of content from, before you can really know what’s going on. Sometimes he gives excellent fight breakdowns and theories. Other times, he is just making jokes out of things and it’s only meant to be taken that way.
Overall it is great stuff. Highly recommend…
Michael Bisping
Bisping has been seen a lot doing UFC commentary over the past couple of years. I imagine this could very well be because he felt that his days of fighting were numbered. He began opening up a new avenue of success for himself and I think it has worked out very well for him. Bisping is most often seen on ‘UFC Tonight’, which was the marquee post-fight show, back when the UFC was still in business with FOX.
Now, the UFC has been putting Bisping in some different roles, as far as commentary. They had him mic’d up for the second UFC on ESPN event, I know that. At first, they had Stephen A. Smith but that quickly changed. They brought Bisping on board and he is excellent. Bisping has always had a great sense of humor and a lot of knowledge about the sport of MMA. As a highly successful UFC fighter and former world champion himself, Bisping definitely knows how to win. And he is able to see that in others, in terms of their paths to victory in a fight. At the same time, he is able to sustain a rather objective attitude when it comes to judging fights, both pre and post fight.
Bisping also hosts a podcast, called the ‘Believe You Me’ podcast, where he talks about a vast majority of different things going on within the world of MMA. Overall, Bisping brings a lot to the table for the UFC, whether it be the pre-fight show, the post-fight show, UFC Tonight, Believe You Me podcast or whatever the new UFC on ESPN talk show will be called.
I’m sure they will create something soon and Bisping will be apart of it.
Brendan Schaub
Schaub retired from the UFC years ago but he has been successful with MMA media ever since. I don’t often see him on UFC post-fight shows or anything like that. But he was apart of the Mayweather/McGregor media tour and I thought he did really well with that.
Most importantly, Schaub hosts his own podcast/video blog kind of show. Its called ‘Below the Belt’ with Brendan Schaub. On this show, Schaub breaks down fights, interviews fighters and affiliates, makes his own predictions, speculations, etc. Quite similar to what Chael Sonnen does with YouTube. But only Schaub has a whole studio where he brings guests in to speak with him about various topics. Recently, he had UFC women’s flyweight Paige VanZant on the show to talk about her injury and her career right now. Also, he traveled to go get an interview with Boxing heavyweight, Tyson Fury. If there’s one thing that I really like about Schaub, it is that he is very dedicated to creating the best content for his fans. He goes after the big and most interesting interviews.
Schaub does great work with his Below the Belt show and I highly recommend you watch it, if you haven’t already…
Dan Hardy
Hardy does excellent work, to say the least. I literally watch this guy before every event. Every big fight week, I just have to watch his fight analysis of the main event. It is absolutely essential. Hardy is just so knowledgeable about the sport and the ways he makes his analysis of fights is just unmatched. You may hear somebody break down a fight but it isn’t a Dan Hardy fight break down.
Hardy really goes the extra mile with it.
Hardy is always featured on the UFC’s YouTube channel during big fight weeks, like UFC 235, for example. Dan Hardy and John Gooden host the show called “Inside The Octagon” where they break down each fighter in a given fight and go through all of their main attributes and weaknesses. Its great stuff if you’re a fan who likes to know about all of the statistics and really understand what each fighter is bringing to the table. Hardy really goes so in-depth with his analysis of fighters, that I’m actually surprised nobody has come at him yet for indirectly revealing their game plan. Hardy probably knows a lot more about most of these fighters than they know about themselves. And that’s an understatement.
If you haven’t looked into the show, Inside The Octagon, go do so right now.
Daniel Cormier
Cormier is just hilarious. He is also very knowledgeable about the sport, especially about wrestling. I mean, hell, he is an olympic wrestler and multi-weight world champion. The guy is really a jack of all trades. But besides that, his commentary is to be noted also! One thing that is absolutely stand-out about Cormier is his post-fight reactions. UFC 217 really comes to mind when I say this. At UFC 217, when Joanna fought Rose for the strawweight belt and Rose knocked her out in the second round. Cormier went crazy! It was just great. Rose knocked her out and all you could hear was Cormier yelling out, “THUG ROSE, THUG ROSE, THUG ROSE!”
Also, besides having hilarious post-fight reactions, Cormier does really well on commentary during a fight. Especially when there are two wrestlers going at it or maybe just one wrestler against a striking specialist. Cormier is able to produce this in-depth analysis of every little move that the wrestler is making. It’s truly amazing. And these are moments when most people would either have no idea what’s going on or just be bored with the fight overall. Cormier is standing there, breaking down every little movement, every side control, every overhand right, every transition, every full guard, every grappling exchange, etc. It’s just great stuff for a fan who wants to feel like they are inside of the fight.
Cormier really brings that level of awareness to the table.
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