Bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz and light-heavyweight kingpin Daniel Cormier will each get a chance to try their hand at color commentary at two upcoming UFC Fight Night shows over the course of the next few weeks.
Cruz will be first up, sitting alongside Jon Anik to call the action at this Saturday night’s UFC Fight Night 95 event from Brasilia, Brazil as Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino takes her second fight in the promotion against newcomer Lina Lansberg.
A week later it will be Cormier’s turn in the booth with Anik at UFC Fight Night 96 in Portland, Oregon, where John Lineker fights John Dodson in the main event of the evening.
Cruz and Cormier have already proven themselves as regular analysts on both FOX and FOX sports 1 broadcasts, while the two have also had a chance to play the third man in the commentary booth during high profile UFC events, with Cruz having joined Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan for the UFC On FOX 19 title fight between Rafael dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone, and Cormier having sat in for the UFC 197 headlining return of his rival Jon Jones against Ovince St. Preux.
Cruz and Cormier have also previously been handed additional experience by occasionally providing color commentary for UFC Fight Pass prelims, though this will be the first time that either has handled the role for a full event from start to finish.
All of which suggests that the two champions have been getting groomed for this new role for a while, and could well become a more regular fixture in the booth in the future alongside the UFC’s other established color commentators, Joe Rogan, Kenny Florian and Brian Stann.
It makes sense for the UFC to have more hands on deck in the role as they are currently putting together a hectic schedule with events most weekends, while long-time color commentator Joe Rogan opted to lighten his load when signing his new contract this summer, meaning that he’s given up doing the ‘UFC On FOX’ shows and so is now only heard on the UFC’s PPV broadcasts.
