Charlie Arnolt made a little piece of history at UFC Vegas 91.
The ESPN host, who previously worked for WWE, got her start with her company as a roving reporter at a UFC event in 2022.
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Arnolt was supposed to conduct backstage interviews with some of the fighters on the card, but she ended up doing a lot more on Saturday night.
Bruce Buffer is the legendary voice of the Octagon and is usually the man responsible for announcing fighters and results at Dana White’s MMA events.
However, he had a much-needed night off and Joe Martinez was tasked with being the announcer for a card topped by a flyweight fight between Matheus Nicolau and Alex Perez.
Martinez is no stranger to working for MMA’s premier promotion and is known for being a decent deputy when Buffer is unable to compete in an event – but something went wrong at UFC Vegas 91.
The 49-year-old had been running the show expertly until the fight preceding the co-main event, which saw Karine Silva defeat Ariane Lipski by unanimous decision.
Martinez introduced both fighters at the start of their bout, but when it was time to announce a winner, he was nowhere, so Arnolt intervened.
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In doing so, she became the first female announcer in UFC history.
Arnolt then made the introductions and announced Bogdan Guskov’s victory over Ryan Spann before bowing out before the main event.
Martinez, who was not feeling well, returned to the Octagon to announce Nicolau and Perez and confirm Perez as the winner by second-round knockout.
Some praised Martinez for being a trooper, but most of the post-fight talk was about Arnolt making history in her last stint in the UFC.
She tweeted: “YA’LL. I’M SHAKING!! What an experience it was!!”
Arnolt later shared a video on her Instagram Story in which she claimed she considered turning down the opportunity to make history.
“I almost said no to the ads,” she admitted. “I almost said no, and now I’ve made history, it’s so cool!”
With Buffer returning and hopefully Martinez feeling better, Arnolt is unlikely to get the call to make any more UFC announcements.
However, she may have done enough to convince the powers that be that she can be the company’s third anchor as well as a behind-the-scenes reporter.
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