UFC vegas 85 commentators: Laura Sanko returns for the Roman Dolidze vs. Nassourdine Imavov card
The highly anticipated UFC Vegas 85 event is right around the corner, and Laura Sanko has her first commentary assignment of 2024. The 41-year-old made her broadcast desk debut at UFC 293 last September and became the first woman in promotional history to do so.
The UFC Vegas 85 event will go down at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas this weekend. The fight card will be headlined by a middleweight barnburner between Roman Dolidze and Nassourdine Imavov, with lightweights Renato Moicano and Drew Dober throwing down in the co-main event.
Per MMA Junkie, The event will feature Dan Hellie as the desk anchor, while former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans and welterweight contender Michael Chiesa will join him as analysts. Charly Arnolt will be on duty for the pre and post-fight interviews backstage and real-time updates.
John Gooden will join Sanko on the commentary desk for the play-by-play calls alongside former two-division champion Daniel Cormier. As usual, Bruce Buffer will serve as octagon announcer and will introduce fighters as they step into the cage.
The UFC Vegas 85 main card will also feature a welterweight contest between Randy Brown and Muslim Salikhov. Meanwhile, Viviane Araujo will fight Natalia Silva in a women's flyweight contest. Gilbert Urbina is also booked against Charles Radtke in a 170-pound showdown.
Laura Sanko shares verdict on Dricus du Plessis vs. Sean Strickland at UFC 297
Laura Sanko recently shared her thoughts on Dricus du Plessis' controversial split decision title win over Sean Strickland at UFC 297 earlier this month.
'Stillknocks' snatched the UFC middleweight championship away from Strickland via split decision after an action-packed five-round fight. In the aftermath, 'Tarzan' alleged that he was headbutted by du Plessis during the fight and suffered a nasty cut above his eye that blurred his vision.
While many fans scored the fight in favor of Strickland, Sanko agreed with the judges' call and had Du Plessis winning the contest. In an interview with MMA Fighting, she said:
"I did have Dricus, both when I watched it live and when I went back and re-watched it. I had Dricus winning by the narrowest of margins, the smallest of margins."
She continued:
"I was really impressed to see Dricus du Plessis go out there and showcase what an incredible gas tank he really does have and his ability to have a tank in the later rounds and make it over a longer fight because the evidence was there that he had struggled with that in the past." [H/T MMAFighting.com]
Watch Laura Sanko's full interview below: