Mike Goldberg interview recap

By: Blaine van der Griend

With 100 shows in the books and more to come, the voice of the UFC has never been bashful when it comes to speaking his mind.

Mike Goldberg was a guest on Live Audio Wrestling last Sunday, joining the LAW's own John Pollock to share some expertise from behind the announce booth. During the interview, Goldberg went through some of his fondest memories as a UFC announcer, both on and off camera.

Originally a hockey announcer, Goldberg admitted to being a bit of a novice to mixed martial arts in the early part of his career. But he quickly adapted to his surroundings, with help from some friends.

"When I started, I didn't know too much about anything," Goldberg said. "There was this wrestling dude who was an Olympic alternate, who was fighting Maurice Smith, who was a great kick boxer and Randy Couture won the heavyweight title for the first time, back in December of '97. Randy was one of the first guys I got to meet and I was like 'wow, these are what fighters are like? What a gentleman. What a nice dude. What a warrior.'"

As a long time friend of Randy Couture, Goldberg's career in the sport has certainly paralleled "The Natural's." But Goldberg has called too many fights to focus all of his attention on one fighter.

"When Royce Gracie came back, that was a great moment for the sport," Goldberg said. "The trilogies which were Chuck and Randy. The trilogies which were Tito and Ken. The two fights between Frank Trigg and Matt Hughes."

With so many great memories in the UFC, Goldberg was almost heartbroken when he thought he might be leaving the sport that he loves. Back in 2005, the WWE had just released their lead announcer Jim Ross and were looking for a replacement. Goldberg was one of the men considered for the job, but luckily for him, nothing was ever finalized.

"You look at things like, you know, the whole WWE thing. That Monday night that I thought might be my last show with the UFC. Trying to say goodbye to family and not being able to do it, thank goodness," Goldberg said.

Goldberg was glad that he didn't "make the jump," as he considers the UFC his home and they have strongly emphasized the first amendment: freedom of speech, a privilege which Goldberg considers himself lucky to have.

"Dana White has never locked me in a door and said 'say this. Don't say that.' He's asked me to be responsible, understand what our goals are as a company and just be responsible and intelligent when you're on the air," Goldberg said. "Say what you want, but if you think it's something that's going to get you in trouble, then you got to be prepared to deal with the ramifications."

Goldberg ended the interview by sharing his thoughts on some of the bouts at UFC 91, particularly the main event between Brock Lesnar and Randy Couture. In an interesting trivia note that Pollock pointed out, Couture also main-evented Goldberg's first show and now main event's his 100^th show.

"I've had a great friendship with Randy for many years. He's commentated with us. I've called all, but I guess his first three fights. The tournament he was in and then, when he beat Vitor Belfort. I've called every Randy Couture fight since that point, in the UFC. It was quite an honor for Randy to return last night and for it to be my 100^th night," Goldberg said. "I thought Randy was going to pull it off. Randy is one of the toughest ousts in the history of the sport and Brock beat him and beat him badly."

Catch The LAW every Sunday night at 11pm EST at www.liveaudiowrestling.com and on Sirius 98 Hardcore Sports Radio.