Laura Sanko took some time to address some of her critics.
Sanko has slowly become a fixture in the UFC for her work as an interviewer and analyst in recent years.
She also made history by becoming the first female commentator in ZUFFA history when she was on the commentary booth for Dana White’s Contender Series.
While she is gaining respect among the combat sports world, there are naturally some detractors.
The majority of them believe Sanko — a former MMA fighter — was only hired for her good looks and may have even gotten her gigs in a scandalous manner.
To that, Sanko responded:
“There is a whole contingent of people out there that think I got this job in some untoward and scandalous way,” Sanko said Tuesday during an appearance on Blockasset’s “BLOCK Party” (via MMA Junkie). “I can assure you that’s not how it happened.”
“It’s a weird thing because on one hand, people will be like, ‘She only has this job because she looks a certain way.’ And then the next comment will be, ‘Oh, she looks a certain way, so there’s no way she could possibly have anything intelligent to say,’ Like anything, I’m learning to deal with it because it’s certainly something that’s ramped up more as the UFC has started to put me in these positions to have opinions.
“But it helps that the people who sit next to me – the Anthony Smiths of the world, the Rashad Evans’s of the world, the Michael Bispings, the Paul Felders, the Daniel Cormiers – that I think people can sense they have a certain amount of respect for me and therefore the fans should, as well. I really owe a lot to my male co-workers who are making a spot for me at the table.”
Laura Sanko Doesn’t Consider Herself Pioneer
For many, no matter how you feel about her, Ronda Rousey was a pioneer and trailblazer for women’s MMA as she got it to where it is today.
One could even say Sanko is a trailblazer for women as far as commentating and analysis goes.
But for now, she’s not ready to accept that title even if it does get her emotional.
“Every time someone says that word to me, it makes me want to tear up honestly,” Sanko added. “But then it also makes me … I don’t yet feel worthy of that. I want to be worthy of that. I do want to be that.
“I guess if I really sit back and go through my DMs, at some point I’m going to have to admit that there is an element of that. It’s just hard for me to use that word for myself.”
It will be interesting to see where Sanko goes from here as her future only looks bright.
