I'm making my way back through all of the UFC events on Fight Pass, and I just re-watched UFC Japan: Ultimate Japan. While Jeff Blatnick was interviewing Maurice Smith and Randy Couture after the main event, I realized that he always did a great job. There's loud hard rock music blaring in the arena, and some of those guys back in the day tended to be difficult to interview, but he kept them on task, asked good questions and had a great presence and tone on the mic. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing like having Joe Rogan calling a fight like Silva / Sonnen, Silva / Weidman, Lawler / MacDonald, Arlovski / Browne, but when it comes to post-fight interviews, Blatnick had him beat. Hands-down. Maybe this is fresh on my mind, subconsciously, because of Joe's turrrrible interview of Ronda Rousey and some other really bad recent interviews. Since Joe really encroaches on PbP these days anyway, I wish Blatnick were still around and we could have a three-man booth: Blatnick on color and interviews, Joe on PbP, and Goldie on Tale of the Tape and Corn Nuts promos and shit.
Joe is good for play by play. Didn't get much out of watching him cry while he licked Ronda's toes in the cage when the fight was over though.
Rogan's post fight interviews are horrible. "Walk us through the fight, it's been an honor to watch you and we know you'll be back, ladies and gentlemen please give it up for..."
Blatnick was really rough when he started, but he morphed into a very good commentator and interviewer towards the end of his tenure. Even when he sucked, he was very sincere; that's a common thread running throughout his entire career. It's sad he passed away so young.
The best thing about Blatnick is that he admitted early on that he didn't know much about MMA besides wrestling but he will keep trying. Every single event afterwards you saw him improving and knowing more and more. RIP Jeff.
Dan Hardy should do post fights. Credit to Joe for asking questions that the audience wants to know however, he usually always does that when there's controversy, etc.
