UFC 303 commentary & broadcast team: Joe Rogan set to replace Michael Bisping in Las Vegas
UFC will feature the most tenured member of their broadcast team as part of the pay-per-view proceedings for this year's International Fight Week.
Joe Rogan will again step into the UFC commentary booth in his familiar color commentary spot. Michael Bisping was helming this position on the company's last show but the popular host of the Joe Rogan Experience will be taking things over on June 29.
The second color commentator that will be on the call this weekend will be former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier. Also in his familiar play-by-play position at UFC 303 will be Jon Anik.
Din Thomas will also be integrated into the broadcast throughout as he will be in a more sporadic analyst position through the pugilistic proceedings this Saturday night.
Bruce Buffer will flesh out the broadcast team in the position of octagon announcer, Megan Olivi will handle on-scene correspondence, and the desk analysts will include Brendan Fitzgerald, Chael Sonnen, Dustin Poirier, as well as Teddy Atlas.
The early prelims go down at 6 PM Eastern Time on ESPN+, prelims transpire at 8 PM ET on ESPN as well as ESPN+, and the main card kicks off at 10 PM ET via ESPN+ pay-per-view.
Check Joe Rogan discussing a meaningful shift with the UFC 303 headliner below:
Michael Bisping's meaningful UFC anniversary
Michael Bisping will not be on this weekend's Ultimate Fighting Championship show but he did have a standout moment as a competitor on this day years ago.
On June 24 in the year 2006, Bisping cemented himself as the third-season winner of 'The Ultimate Fighter' and captured the tournament title at light heavyweight.
The now-45-year-old punched his ticket to the finals after a pair of striking-based first-round finishes. Bisping defeated Kris Rotharmel and Ross Pointon in February of that year to get to the televised season finale special in the Summer.
'The Count' would stop Josh Haynes with strikes in the second round to cement himself as the champion and he went on to carve out quite a path for himself in the UFC thereafter.
Bisping improved to 11-0 as a pro-MMA fighter as he became the 'TUF 3' champion. The native of England has since become a hugely impactful athlete for the growth of the sport in his country and would eventually cement himself as the promotion's middleweight champion.