After a generation of fighters retire, some will inevitably migrate to certain support function in the sport; trainers, judges, refs and also commentary.

However, this is not an MMA only issue, I can recall that Troy Aikman has recieved a fair amount of criticism for how he handles calling Dallas Cowboy games. A few other former players have recieved similar criticism when covering teams that they played for.

So Mir being a bit preferential towards a fighter he trains with is not that out of the ordinary. Perhaps Zuffa should have a rule against commentators working when they have a relationship with on the fighters in a bout. Given the movement within the industry, though, that might be a spiderweb of trouble enforcing.

First, I agree it wasn’t entirely on Mir. The WEC announcing team together completely blew that fight. Before the fight even began they built it up as a tremendous mismatch, and through the entire fight missed call after call. Time and time again Mizugaki was effective against Torres, but the announcing team gave absolutely no play by play, only to pounce on any mild activity from Torres. It was a great fight, with epic back and forth action, but the announcing tainted the fight.

Am I the only one who thinks Goldberg & Rogan do a great job? Sure, Goldberg shows his naivete sometimes, and Rogan needs to correct him, but how many of us are truly experts on every minutia of the sport? Together they call the action in an exciting fashion, provide good technical context, and lend their voices to the viewing enjoyment of the fight. I think the absence of either of them would lessen the product, Rogan more so than Goldberg, but they both do an excellent job in their respective roles as color and play-by-play.

I just can’t stomach the unnecessary bias. I hate watching fights like Torres/Mizugaki…Miz was putting up one hell of a fight and nobody would have known by the commentary. Like I stated on an earlier comment, Rogan and Goldberg wouldn’t shut up about Koscheck until he got put out by Paulo Thiago. It was embarrassing to watch. There is no reason to be bias, guys. Everyone who watches your product knows the big names. We know how good Miguel Torres is…now give the guy who is standing toe to toe with him not backing down some props. I’m surprised they don’t refer to Mike Brown as “not Urijah Faber”.

I think Mike Goldberg, Joe Rogan, Frank Mir and even Todd Harris do a good job. You don’t realize how good they are until you watch some of the older promotions and smaller shows. Joe Rogan is one of the best MMA minds out there, and it really burns me when people criticize him. Just quit the nut hugging gentlemen…

Mir does this just about every broadcast and it is sickening. It’s either someone he has trained with or a WEC poster-boy that he takes sides with. He’s not bad if he could just stay objective and neutral. Even when Evans sat in on the Jardine vs. Rampage fight, he was not as lopsided as Mir.

Once again an article on how evil Zuffa is.

isn’t restricted simply to Frank Mir among Zuffa’s commentators. Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan are just as guilty of letting their own personal preference seep into their commentary. The Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva fight is the most egregious example I can think of. You would’ve thought Chuck was putting on an Anderson Silva caliber striking clinic listening to the announcers.

Why don’t you guys just watch these fights with the sound off. You would all be happier. I am perfectly happy with Rogan and Goldberg. I am perfectly happy with Mir and the other guy. Did you guys hear Jens Pulver working the mic a few weeks ago? That was horrible.

Sorry , people are being too nice here , that commentating was a sad joke , it actually made me so angry I stopped watching by round 4 …I mean it’s round 3 or 4 , It’s obvious Mizugaki won at least 2 rounds , and Mir is saying something like Mizugaki has to do something he’s clearly losing the fight??? WHAT ? Are we watching the same fight here ?! I get it , they’re friends , Mir likes to promote his buddy , but what the hell . It’s disrespecting the viewers intelligence what he did , he thinks people won’t notice what the hell he’s trying to do ?

I’ve only caught a couple of fights that he was brought in for, but what was the general consensus on his broadcasting?

I don’t see this as being that big a deal. While watching any sport at any time you hear announcers being biased towards certain guys or certain teams all the time.

I’ll watch a Cards/Cubs game on Fox Sports Midwest. At the same time that game is showing on Comcast Sports Chicago. I like to switch back and forth after big plays to hear the different view points about the play. When you get close plays at the bases the clear biases in commentary from the two channels is quite apparent.

the Premier League has this deal where they allow two fans (one of each team) to do play by play/commentary of a game and broadcast it.

Once you get over the accents, its pretty hillarious to hear to fans shit talking each other during the game. Might be a funny twist for MMA once in a while.

So I have to ask i’m I the only one that finds people bashing Mir for being biased on MMA blods funny?, because considering the fact that many of these people are as biased as they come the irony can’t be lost on everyone else I hope.

I watched the fight again and Harris had NOTHING to do with Mir’s brutally biased commentary.

There were moments where Harris actually tried to talk about Mizugaki, only to have Mir follow up with more Torres cheerleading.

I can’t recall a more biased performance. Maybe Bonnar cheering for Forrest, but he is not a regular announcer.

By all means, let us discuss the shortcomings is MMA announcing these days, but to defend Mir, or attempt to make excuses for him, is rediculous.