MMA: The Top 10 Announcing Cliches
Whenever someone is watching a fight, they can always expect to hear a few phrases or cliches that they have heard before.
It's inevitable in the heat of the moment of a fight, and an announcer says the first thing that comes to their mind, which isn't the first time they have thought of it.There are also times when an announcer uses specific phrases to describe a fighter.
Announcers are getting better at this and coming up with new ways to describe what is happening during the fight, but it's time to look back at the top 10 MMA announcing cliches.
No. 10
1 of 10
It seems like anytime a fighter with only punching power is matched up with someone who has great takedowns, they will always be labeled as having a "puncher's chance."
The phrase constantly reminds you that anything can happen in a fight when someone has punching power. Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra is a perfect example.
The most recent one is James Toney vs. Randy Couture and that deserved to be labeled with the phrase. Everyone knew going into this fight Couture was going to shoot as soon as possible, and that Toney's best and only chance was to connect early.
No. 9
2 of 10
This isn't specifically a phrase that is used by announcers, but you hear it just about everytime someone wins a fight from Dana White at the post-fight press conference. It's his way of describing how anyone in the top 10 can suddenly be "in the mix" for a title shot if they win their fight.
Melvin Guillard jumped "into the mix" with his win over Evan Dunham this past weekend.
It is exciting to hear someone had suddenly been awarded a potential title shot, but "in the mix" will not be the phrase that puts them there.
No. 8
3 of 10
"A la" or "in the style of" doesn't get used too much anymore, but it was popular when Chuck Liddell was the lightheavyweight champion and was on a seven fight knockout streak.
Anyone who was looking to "stand and bang" wanted a knockout "a la Chuck Liddell." This just shows what kind of fighter he was. Always looking for the knockout and willing to take the chance of getting knocked out himself.
It's unknown whether or not this phrase will get tagged onto any other fighter, but it probably will down the line when a fighters style distinguishes themselves within the sport of MMA as Chuck Liddell's did.
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No. 7
4 of 10
We should expect anytime something exciting happens, it is going to bring a good part of the crowd to their feet.
Not only was this phrased used too often, most of the time it wasn't even true. There is no need to tell the viewers watching on TV "the entire crowd is on their feet" when we can clearly see half of the audience is still sitting down.
No. 6
5 of 10
This phrase was sparked after the defining Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar fight at the first Ultimate Fighter Finale. They battled back and forth for three rounds, emerged bloody, cut and bruised but showed more heart and will than you could imagine.
Anytime a fighter appears to not want it as much as their opponent or vice versa, it brings out the phrase "so you want to be an ultimate fighter?"
The Griffin and Bonnar fight shows what it may require to become an ultimate fighter.
No. 5
6 of 10
Everyone has heard this phrase before.
Almost anytime an upset or comeback occurs, you can expect to hear this two or three times immediately after the fight is over.
It should be saved to use for fights like Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra fight or Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Mirko Cro Cop. Those were both huge upsets that really were "unbelievable."
It works well in a lot of cases, but it should still be toned down a bit to maybe saying it once instead of three times.
No. 4
7 of 10
You will hear this phrase probably everytime someone gets "tagged" with a "bomb". Whether it's in MMA or boxing, it's used by everyone to describe the action of a fighter being hurt by a strike and trying to regain their composure.
It does get used a lot, and there aren't too many other ways of describing it. That's ok though because it doesn't need to be most of the time. The viewers can tell when someone is hurt.
No. 3
8 of 10
This is the most overused phrase when it comes down to describing the style a fighter is best known for. It seems as if every other fighter has world class skills in one particular area of the sport, which isn't true in most cases.
If a fighter has a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, he is described as having "world class" jiu-jitsu. This should be saved only to describe certain fighters who are the best of the best. Guys like Demian Maia, Fabricio Werdum and Jake Shields can all be considered "world class." They have all been successful outside the Octagon in various jiu-jitsu and grappling tournaments.
A "world class" striker should be someone who has competed in K1 kickboxing or boxing. Just because someone has a bunch of knockouts, it doesn't make him a "world class" striker.
No. 2
9 of 10
How much do you want to bet this term gets used before or during UFC 126 to describe Jon Jones?
Almost any young fighter who is catapulted into the UFC mainstream is said to be on a "meteoric rise."
Maybe they can reverse it and tag it onto a hyped fighter who loses and say it's a "meteoric fall" because that's what a meteor does, right?
No. 1
10 of 10The most known phrase in all of MMA and the UFC is by no other than Mike Goldberg. It's a good one though.
Almost every person has come to expect it when a fighter gets stopped whether it's by submission or knockout. It's what caps off the final moments of a fight and this list.
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