While there has been a re-shuffling of the deck in MMA broadcasting booths across the sport the past couple of years, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan isn’t the only pioneering MMA broadcaster that has remained in his roost.
A somewhat quiet pioneer of the sport, Ron Kruck is a decade-and-a-half into his tenure in combat sports, and all of it on the same network. Well, that’s somewhat true. When Kruck began working in mixed martial arts, he was on HDNet, which has since been sold and rebranded as AXS TV. But the commitment to MMA has remained steadfast all these years, even in the face of rebranding.
“We’re entering into our 15th year covering combat sports on HDNet, now AXS TV. Our first was WEC 9,” Kruck recounted to MMAWeekly.com. WEC was eventually gobbled up by the UFC.
“It’s crazy to think about the team back then. It was (MMAWeekly co-founder) Ryan Bennett leading the way, Stephen Quadros and Jeff Blatnick doing color, and I was fortunate enough to be their ring reporter. I look back at those times really fondly, an elite broadcasting team.”
Kruck has steered his career through many changes since being the World Extreme Cagefighting ring reporter.
He spearheaded a show called WEC Exposed, which served to provide a sort of pre-fight show for WEC events and provided information and features on the fighters competing under the promotion’s banner.
WEC Exposed was largely a labor of love for Kruck, as he handled the majority of the duties (on-screen and off) surrounding its production, but it was a key part of the larger development of mixed martial arts on the network.
MMA’s First SportsCenter-Style Show, Inside MMA
As HDNet expanded its offerings by adding a wider array of events and the sport grew worldwide, Kruck’s show spurred then HDNet owner Mark Cuban on to bigger and better things, eventually morphing WEC Exposed into Inside MMA, one of the first SportsCenter-type shows that focused specifically on mixed martial arts.
“Mark Cuban was the one that said we need to have a SportsCenter for MMA. More than a pre-fight show, we need to look ahead, we need to have highlights, not just the UFC, but from all of MMA,” Kruck recalled.
”That was the vision, to do a SportsCenter for mixed martial arts.”
Inside MMA was the professional production that the sport needed from an on-television news presence. Veteran broadcaster Kenny Rice anchored the show with former UFC champion and King of Pancrase Bas Rutten at his side for his combat sports expertise, and Kruck was the veteran reporter who provided news briefs and traveled the world producing feature stories.
Inside MMA had a nine-year run before rising competition from the likes of Fox Sports and ESPN, as well as the re-branding from HDNet to AXS TV put a halt to the show, which was admittedly and expensive show to produce.
AXS TV Fights is Born
Though AXS TV was largely known for its focus on entertainment and music, Friday night fight coverage was just too strong and too consistent to not be included in the network’s offerings. Thus, AXS TV Fights was born, keeping the focus on combat sports on Friday nights.
The current line-up is centered around Legacy Fighting Alliance, which plans to produce about 30 or so live events in 2018. The LFA off weeks are largely filled by CES MMA. Both are bolstered by one of the hottest properties in professional wrestling, Ring of Honor, which is also part of the Friday night line-up, which produces solid ratings for the network.
With all the changes over the years, from reporting at WEC events to the network-owned HDNet Fights (which was two events and done) to Inside MMA to the current line-up, there has been a constant through it all, Ron Kruck.
His role has certainly morphed over the years, and he’s now embarking on the biggest challenge of his career, but it’s one that he relishes. Kruck is now the play-by-play announced for AXS TV Fights. Kruck is joined by UFC Hall of Famer Pat Miletich as his color commentator and Phoenix Carnevale providing ring reporting and interviews.
“I was always the fill-in guy for Kenny Rice, and when he left, Michael Schiavello. I had done the ring reporting for AXS TV Fights forever, but even the transition from that role to play-by-play was a challenge,” Kruck said.
When Schiavello decided it was time for him to move home to Australia, the opportunity for Kruck’s next career transition was staring him smack in the face, and he met it head-on.
“It was a logical transition. It really was. To me, the biggest challenge (in doing play-by-play full-time) is going to be 40 weeks a year on the road,” said Kruck, who is confident in his new role, largely because of the continuity at the network.
“It’s a solid team. This network has been broadcasting combat sports for 15 years. There’s been a lot of changes, but the philosophy is the same.”
Launching MMA Fighters into the Spotlight
For Kruck, as much as WEC Exposed was a labor of love, so is what he does now. He particularly loves watching a fighter come up from unknown to fighting for a promotion like LFA and then making the transition to the big leagues.
Most fighters that rise to the championship level at LFA then move on to the UFC or Bellator without the opportunity to defend the strap. But that’s part of the gig, the LFA has become the de facto minor league system to the majors that the UFC and Bellator represent.
“That’s the bittersweet part,” Kruck admits. “But I love to see the success our guys and girls have had moving on to the big shows. That’s what it’s about.
“Eryk Anders is a great example. He gets a shot at Lyoto Machida (this weekend at UFC Fight Night 125). It’s fun to get these guys early in their careers and then seeing it go to proving it in the LFA and all the bright lights and then move on to the next step. That’s what we love to see. Get your career going and then have success in the big shows.”
It’s a similar path that Kruck has followed, though he’s not concerned about a call-up to the UFC or Bellator, he’s happy having transitioned from ringside reporter to feature journalist to now being the lead play-by-play commentator anchoring AXS TV’s Friday night offerings.
Kruck will be on the mic week in and week out throughout 2018. He will next be on the call for CES MMA 48 on Friday night, LFA 33 next week, and all of AXS TV Fights’ mixed martial arts events.
(Photos courtesy of Richard Burmaster, AXS TV Fights)
