UFC Fight Pass Ring Announcer Chad Fishburne Opens Up on His Unconventional Journey From Comedy to Combat Sports

If you think everyone finds their calling in the first thing they pursue, Chad Fishburne has a message for you. Today, Fishburne is the energetic voice behind the mic at several combat sports events, having worked with UFC Fight Pass and DAZN. It took a rather painful experience with his first love, comedy, to nudge him toward an entirely different calling: ring announcing.

Despite his comedy background and experience performing sets himself, Fishburne always had the makings of an emcee. At one particular comedy show, he got the opportunity to introduce a popular comedian, only to receive a rather backhanded compliment from one of the bookers. And the rest, as they say, is history.

How a Backhanded Compliment Nudged Chad Fishburne Toward Ring Announcing

The incident that, in hindsight, helped Chad Fishburne recognise his potential as a ring announcer happened almost two decades ago at a comedy show. Fishburne still remembers how he was the MC that night, tasked with performing a shorter set before introducing the headliner, who happened to be Darrell Hammond of Saturday Night Live fame. 

Fishburne pulled it off with flying colours, introducing the man the entire show was built around in what, in a ring-announcing fashion, he described as a Michael Buffer-style introduction. 

In an exclusive interview with MMA Sucka's Ujwal Jain, Fishburne delved into how a light roast from the show's booker became the unlikely catalyst for his transition into ring announcing:

"It was interesting because I have a background in comedy, and this was at a stand-up show specifically where I was the MC that night, and I was tasked with not only performing, you know, a shorter set, but also introducing the other talent, the headliner. And so as soon as I introduced the headliner, it was Darrell Hammond from Saturday Night Live."

Fishburne added:

"I introduced him, and it was honestly in the style of a ring announcer, you know, like a Michael Buffer-style introduction. But that kind of fit. I just leaned into it because, you know, that's the way it went down. As soon as I walked off stage, the booker, the guy that booked me for the gig, said, 'You're a way better announcer than you're a comedian.' And I was like, 'Damn'. I wasn't ready for that at the time. So it stung, but then I had to kind of take it on board, and sure enough, that's what kind of led to creating a reel during the pandemic. The reel booked me my first job, and here we are today."

Check out Chad Fishburne's comments below (1:04):

How Did an Instagram Reel Help Chad Fishburne Land First Announcing Gig? 

Interestingly, however, Chad Fishburne's announcing career didn't begin with combat sports. His first gig came as a backup announcer for the Atlanta Hawks. Since then, he has enjoyed a varied career, working with several teams, promotions, and companies, including the Atlanta Braves, Nissan North America, AT&T, and Pepsi, to name a few.

Then came the pandemic, when live events around the world came to a standstill. With a little help from his wife, Fishburne put together an Instagram Reel using a green screen, superimposing footage of a combat sports event while announcing the action himself. Sure enough, the inventive video caught the attention of a promoter, who offered him his first combat sports gig: a Muay Thai event in Sweden.

Reflecting on the Reel and whether he ever imagined it would open as many doors as it eventually did, Fishburne said:

"It was honestly one of those things that I had to put a lot of work into because one of the things that I'm learning is that when people have someone, you know, you've really got to capture their attention in some way, shape, or form to make them say, 'Okay, I have somebody already, but I'm going to try this new person because I can see their value.' So it took me; outside of the first job, I tried to use that footage that I captured from the first job to kind of propel myself to other jobs."