There are times in life where somebody reads history, but being able to make history is a far more exciting prospect. Just ask Laura Sanko, who in 2021 became a weekly fixture on the commentary team of Dana White’s Contender Series. Prior to this, her role on the show saw her interviewing victorious fighters backstage, something that continues on the summer MMA series to this day.
The move to place Laura Sanko on commentary was a notable one for the UFC, as the organization had never before had a female personality work an event as a commentator in the current era. UFC 1 in November of 1993 featured commentary from kickboxer Kathy Long, who scored ISKA and WKA championships.
Long also went 2-0 in MMA, scoring both wins by unanimous decision six years apart.
Laura Sanko Becomes Fixture in Commentator’s Role on UFC Fight Night
About two years ago, Sanko made history again by serving as a commentator for the Feb. 4, 2023 UFC Fight Night event from the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, NV. That night’s card, which was supposed to have emanated from Seoul, South Korea, was headlined by a contest in the UFC heavyweight division between Derrick Lewis (28-12, 1 NC MMA, 19-10 UFC) and Serghei Spivac (17-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC).
Since that time, she’s been working on the announce team for UFC Fight Night broadcasts on a regular basis. Most recently, Laura Sanko was featured on commentary for the Nov. 23 UFC Macau card from Galaxy Arena in Macau, China.
Saturday, the UFC returns for the start of a busy slate where they’ll hold one show every weekend through (at least) April 12 with UFC Fight Night: Adesanya vs. Imavov from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and ANB Arena. Live coverage begins at 9 am ET/ 6 am PT on ESPN+ inside the United States with the undercard. Main card action follows up at noon ET/ 9 am PT on the Disney-owned subscription-based platform.
Laura Sanko Set to Make History Again This Weekend
On that card, Sanko will return to the broadcast desk for the first time in 2025, but this edition of UFC Fight Night has some historical context. Saturday’s card marks the UFC’s sophomore appearance in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Last June on the ABC Television Network, the UFC made its first trek to Saudi Arabia for UFC on ABC 6, but this time around, Laura Sanko, who won her only professional fight at atomweight in January of 2013 during Invicta FC 5, will be appearing as a member of the commentary team. It’s the first time that something like this has ever taken place on a Saudi Arabia-based show.
Tuesday, the commentary plans for UFC Saudi Arabia on Saturday were revealed. Alongside Sanko for this weekend’s event will be blow-by-blow commentator John Gooden and analysis from former CFFC Lightweight Champion Paul Felder, who posted a record of 17-6 in his professional MMA career from December of 2011 to November of 2020, including a 9-6 mark in the UFC.
Thoughts on Laura Sanko Working UFC Saudi Arabia
In an era where women taking on prominent roles in sports television broadcasts is becoming more and more of the norm, rather than a rarity, it’s great that Laura Sanko is continuing to work UFC events on a regular basis.
While Jamie Varner took to X to speak out against Sanko’s involvement as an analyst on UFC shows in March of last year, there will always be people in this world who say things like that for one singular purpose: To get a rise out of the person or people who the remarks are intended for.
Varner’s original post was scrubbed from his X account after it happened, but Laura Sanko clearly won the exchange with her reply. Here’s hoping that this history-making broadcast is a successful one for Sanko.