Bruce Buffer wants to keep “The One, The Only” rare, which means the club may stay at three members for a while. The UFC’s longtime Octagon announcer told Helen Yee Sports that he plans to think hard before handing the line to anyone else, because giving it out too often would drain what it means.
Three fighters have gotten it in Buffer’s 30 years with the promotion. Conor McGregor was first, at UFC 246, which surprised nobody who has ever watched McGregor walk to a cage. Jon Jones joined years later, getting the treatment before he beat Ciryl Gane to win the heavyweight title. Alex Pereira, the light heavyweight champion, became the third last year.
Pereira’s night didn’t go to plan, and Buffer didn’t dodge it.
View post on X
“I’m sorry to say when I said it for him, he lost,” Buffer told Helen Yee Sports. “But again, that has nothing to do with me saying it for him.”
He still thinks Poatan deserves the title, crediting what Pereira has accomplished and how far he’s come. He just doesn’t want fans to expect it on every pay-per-view. Plenty of fighters could make a case for it, by his own admission, and that’s exactly the problem.
Buffer said he’s going to give the future of the line real thought, because if he starts calling a lot of fighters “The One, The Only,” it takes away from what the line actually is.
Bloody Elbow, which first picked up the interview, noted that Buffer has no plans to retire. He marked his 30th year with the UFC at UFC Houston and still brings the same volume whether he’s calling a prelim or a title fight.
The line nearly got a double booking this year. Jones and Pereira were both pushing to fight each other at UFC Freedom 250, which would have put two of the three members in the same cage and likely given Buffer the chance to say it twice in one main event intro. That fight now looks unlikely, though Jones has said he’s keeping his options open. Buffer’s mic from Freedom 250 still sold for $10,700 without the doubleheader.
Buffer has this right. The line works because almost nobody gets it, and once it shows up on a random co-main it turns into another catchphrase the crowd talks over. McGregor, Jones and Pereira is a fine list. If anyone gets added, it should be someone who forces the issue, and the only fight that would justify saying it twice in one night is Jones vs. Pereira. Jones hasn’t closed that door, so Buffer should keep the second reading in his pocket.
