Good Ol' J.R. - that's Jim Ross for those who aren't aware - was the voice of the WWF/WWE in the Attitude Era. "He's broken in half!" "He killed him" - his over-the-top announcing sold every match he called, and he's a figure that has been sorely missed from the WWE since his departure. There has been talk, over the years, of Ross, who is also a football and MMA fan, signing with an MMA promotion, and he has suggested that he'd be open to working with the UFC, but given they have an established announce team (a couple of them now), Ross was seemingly the odd man out. It looks like the UFC's loss is Battleground MMA's gain, however. Ross will sit alongside the ever-quotable Chael Sonnen to call Battleground MMA's October 3rd Pay-per-View, which features Randy Couture's son Ryan, as well as an eight-man, one night tournament that hearkens back to the original UFC shows, and Pride FC. This is probably one of the most interesting announce teams in the business right now, and they seemingly formed overnight. Lets consider this: Sonnen was once the face of UFC Tonight (sorry, Ariel Helwani), until he was cut from his FOX broadcasting duties after a pair of positive drug tests leading into his bout with Wanderlei Silva (later changed to Vitor Belfort) for UFC 175. Ross was once the voice of the WWE, and a familiar face there. Sonnen has been rumoured to be pro wrestling bound in the past. Ross has been rumoured to be MMA bound in the past. Suddenly the two are together in what almost seems like an audition for the UFC. Sonnen will certainly return to work for the company at some point; just weeks ago FOX Sports was putting a surprisingly positive spin on the now-retired fighter's future, and it's likely that FOX and the UFC just want the heat to die down before welcoming him back to the fold. Ross would certainly be a welcome addition, if his calls were near as good as the were at his peak in the WWE. This team suddenly makes the event worth watching for the announcing alone, because no matter what happens in the cage, these guys are going to sell it as the greatest fight ever.
Primarily covering the sport of MMA from Ontario, Canada, Jay Anderson has been writing for various publications covering sports, technology, and pop culture since 2001. Jay holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Guelph, and a Certificate in Leadership Skills from Humber College.
