Mike Goldberg reveals “awkward” encounter with Dana White after being fired by UFC

MMA play-by-play color commentator Mike Goldberg revealed his “awkward” encounter with UFC president Dana White after being fired by UFC.

Goldberg, who most recently worked for Bellator MMA as its lead play-by-play announcer, worked for the UFC for 20 years between 1997 and 2017 before he was released by the organization and replaced by Jon Anik as the promotion’s top commentator. For Goldberg, being let go by the UFC came as a big shock since the company was doing so well and he was one of the people who were there since the early days. But the UFC and White decided that they needed to make a change and they let Goldberg go back in 2017. According to the longtime mic man, White didn’t bother telling Goldberg why the company let him go.

Speaking to Heavy.com, Goldberg said that he ran into White a few years later in Las Vegas while he was coaching his son’s hockey team. According to ‘Goldie,’ it was a very “awkward situation” when he saw the UFC president and tried to talk to him.

“What do I do here?” Goldberg said he was thinking of the situation when his son initially saw White and let his dad know his former boss was there. “I walked up, and I said, ‘Hey, Dana, how are you?’ We shook hands. I said I’d love to stay in touch. He said we should do that. And there you go. After that amount of time, it was just an awkward situation.”

While it’s good to hear that Goldie and White eventually did talk, it’s unfortunate that Goldberg never got to know the real reason why he’s no longer in the UFC and based on how infrequently he actually talks to White, he might not find out the real reason why.

Do you think there is still a place for Mike Goldberg in the UFC?