(Photo by Hassan Behgouei)

As I sit here on my office chair, I think to myself how fast these three years have gone by and how far I’ve come in such a short period of time. This journey began on June 11, 2011 when I was writer for Lowkick.com when I was assigned to cover UFC 131 and later on that evening I was hired to host Shane Carwin’s after party at Fabric Nightclub (which didn’t happen).

Ryan Christian Ventura’s journey in to ring announcing

The day of UFC 131 was a huge day for me. I had comp tickets to go to the MMA Expo being held at the Vancouver Convention Centre. It was pretty cool, there were grappling tournaments, a lot of legendary and current UFC fighters were there to sign autographs (including Shonie Carter who I’ll be introducing at BFL 27). I went to the expo to soak up the scene as a fan, meet some fighters, and maybe even network with people in the fight scene. At the time, I didn’t think one chance meeting with a local promoter would change my life. I noticed this guy putting up posters for an upcoming local event called Quest for Glory. The guy posting the posters was Ben Medhi and he was one of the promoters for the event. He told me about his upcoming card at the Croatian Cultural Centre and I wanted to be a part of it somehow. I told him about the many years I had promoting Hip-Hop club nights in our city and that I hosted them as well. I also told him that I was a long time fan of combat sports, that I train as well, and that I would like to try ring announcing if his event needed a guy. He already hired a guy to introduce the fighters, but he was really cool and gave me three tickets. He told me though, if his guy wasn’t able to do the job the right way, that I would get my shot.

June 17, 2011 was a Friday evening. I went to the event with my brother and my cousin. Just in case I packed a dress shirt and some dress shoes in my napsack. The guy they originally hired for the event was a really nice guy, but he clearly wasn’t cut out for ring announcing. So during the first intermission of the event, Ben asked me if I wanted to do it. I changed into my dress shirt, with no time to rehearse and no experience, I went into the centre of the ring for the very first time, and I did it. Some people that remember that event said I did really well, I thought I was ok. It turned out I was a good fit for the job, the promoters liked me, the fighters seemed to like their introductions and I became Quest for Glory’s official ring announcer. They gave me the opportunity to be a part of a lot of firsts in the fight industry here. I got to ring announce the very first fighting event at the historic Vogue Theatre on Granville Street and I was a part of the very first Mixed Martial Arts event held in a Vancouver night club.

Quest for Glory doesn’t hold events anymore, but it opened up so many doors for me. I got to introduce fighters for Westcoast Promotions at the Red Robinson Theatre. My good friend Darcy McBride brought me on board to do color commentary for the Canada vs. China Muay Thai event that was held at the River Rock Theatre. I became the official ring announcer for one of the oldest and most respected fighting events in the Lower Mainland, Muay Thai Kai Singthong’s Thai Boxing Challenge. I got a chance to be a part of the Muay Thai Series which was held at BCIT and the Sport Muay Thai Championships event that was the first fighting event held at the Richmond Olympic Oval. I also did a boxing card at the Fraserview Hall for Bisla Promotions.

My resume over the years has gotten quite big locally here, but I have two great personal highlights. I got to interview UFC Heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum in the cage at Seeing Red 3 back in 2011 — a few weeks before he fought Alistair Overeem in Strikeforce. I also got to interview Kickboxing legend Rob Kaman in the centre of the ring at the Maritime Labour Centre for one of Master Song’s Muay Thai events in the summer of 2012.

Over the years my approach to ring announcing has changed — it’s improved, and matured. I’ve done every event here locally except for one and that’s being a part of BC’s Premier Mixed Martial Arts promotion the Battlefield Fight League. As a fan I’ve followed BFL’s events with a lot of interest. I enjoyed watching their events and catching them on the Fight Network. My friend Darcy was their long time color commentator and their former ring announcer Don Andrews has become a mentor to me and someone that I admire and respect. I always wanted a shot at doing their events and when I finally got the call on Christmas Day to be a part of the event, I must say it was one of the greatest honours of my young ring announcing career. However if I have learned anything from Don and all the other great ring announcers that I look up to, it’s that being a ring announcer isn’t about me. My voice and my appearance are a huge part of the package, but my job is an important one and that’s to honour each and every fighter that steps into that cage with an introduction that sets the tone for the evening — an introduction worthy of champions. Their hard work will be put on display on Saturday January 18 for BFL 27 live at the River Rock Theatre in Richmond.

Here is a message to all the fighters on the card, you have my word that I’ll give you everything I have to give you the introduction you deserve.

Thanks to Jay and Trevor from the Battlefield Fight League for the opportunity.. You won’t be disappointed. Thanks again to my long time friend Jeremy from MMA Sucka for allowing me to write this piece. Thanks to my family, friends, and long time supporters for believing in me. There are so many of you, too many to thank — you know who you are.

Get your tickets to BFL 27: Dwyer vs. Carter at BFLTix.com!