Bruce Buffer addressed the UFC Seattle mistake that briefly gave Marcin Tybura a win over Tyrell Fortune before officials corrected the result.
Buffer initially announced Tybura as the winner after the heavyweight fight. Moments later, Fortune was brought back to the Octagon, and Buffer corrected the result by announcing Fortune as the winner by decision.
Buffer is the UFC’s official Octagon announcer and is introduced on broadcasts as the “Veteran Voice of the Octagon.” Tybura is a Polish UFC heavyweight and former M-1 Global heavyweight champion.
Watch the UFC Seattle mix-up below:
https://x.com/ChampRDS/status/2038032941176021109
In an interview with MMA Fighting, Buffer accepted responsibility for the Seattle error.
“I’m my own worst critic, of course, and I don’t put blame on anybody else,” Buffer told MMA Fighting. “I’m the messenger, I’m the one that delivers it – whether there was some confusion at the commissioner’s desk beforehand or whatever, not even worth talking about. So I accept full responsibility for it.”
Buffer Separates UFC Seattle Error From UFC 327 Scoring Issue
Buffer also addressed the UFC 327 result change involving Chris Padilla and Marquel Mederos. He said that situation was different because the announcement later changed due to a commission scoring issue.
“Obviously it’s not an enjoyable moment because I’m a perfectionist,” Buffer told MMA Fighting. “But it happened and rolled off, announce the winner and have to deal, all good. I mean, I’ve been doing this for over 30 years, I’ve announced thousands of fights, and I am not one to make excuses.”
“Again, whether it was a situation that was caused by confusion elsewhere, doesn’t make any difference. I’m the one that delivered it. I should have cleared it up and had that cleared, unlike [UFC 327] where an hour later they turned around a decision. That wasn’t me, that was the commission. They had given me the announcement to make and it was a majority [decision], and then they changed it to a majority [draw] in that fight. Totally out of my hands, totally whatever, you know, things happen, and we just have to move on.”
Buffer said the worst part was the effect on the fighters.
“Where I feel bad is that the moment I gave the fighter who thought he won, versus the moment I gave the fighter who thought he lost and then eventually won: For that, I’m dearly sorry,” Buffer told MMA Fighting. “I have so much respect and I’m so honored to be able to announce these amazing octagon warriors. I never want to lessen any moment in their lives, I only want to take them to the next level and heighten it as much as possible.”
“So for that, I apologize, and onward and upward.”
