Mike Goldberg, Mauro Ranallo to split play-by-play duties for Bellator NYC broadcast

Here are all the details you need on this Saturday’s broadcast production for Bellator MMA’s big show in Madison Square Garden on June 24th.

With recent news that former UFC voice Mike Goldberg and ex-PRIDE, Strikeforce, and current Showtime Boxing commentator Mauro Ranallo have both been hired by Bellator MMA, we now know what their respective roles will be for this Saturday’s big event in New York City. In an official press release sent by the promotion on Monday, we’ll be hearing both man call the action alongside Jimmy Smith, but it’s been split up so that Ranallo will handle the pay-per-view, while Goldberg commentates on the “Bellator 180” portion of the card.

Bellator’s stacked pay-per-view event, Bellator NYC: Sonnen vs. Silva, will see play-by-play analyst Mauro Ranallo join longtime Bellator color commentator Jimmy Smith for the first time live at 10 p.m. ET/7p.m. PT, while Mike Goldberg will anchor the desk for the historic broadcast.

Earlier that evening, Goldbergis set to call the play-by-play action alongside Smith, with Ranallo set to host Bellator 180: Davis vs. Bader from the desk live on SPIKE at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. Goldberg and Smith will also call the additional preliminary match-ups on Bellator.com at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.

Jenn Brown will host SPIKE’s live pre-show during preliminary action, where she will be joined by popular MMA personality Brendan Schaub and Bellator lightweight Josh Thomson, who will offer unique insight and analysis leading into the historic event. Schaub and Thomson will later join Ranallo at the desk during Bellator 180. The voice of Bellator, Michael C. Williams, will take his familiar position inside the cage as the evening’s ring announcer.

Former Bellator PBP voice Sean Grande recently announced his departure from the company after two years, citing conflicts with Bellator’s increased schedule and his duties as the radio voice of the NBA’s Boston Celtics. He also said that all of the extra travel led to him spending less time with his son. In the letter he penned, Grande indicated that “old-school MMA fans” would like the replacements, a sly hint that Goldberg and Ranallo were Bellator-bound.

There’s no word yet on how Goldberg and Ranallo will be assigned for future Bellator shows, of which the next one after this weekend is Bellator 181: Pitbull vs. Campos 2 on Friday, July 14th.