‘Never thought I’d see the day’ – Bruce Buffer makes rare mistake at UFC 301 after Anthony Smith’s first-round win

Bruce Buffer misnamed Anthony Smith in a mistake during his UFC 301 announcement.

Buffer has worked as the UFC’s official octagonal announcer since UFC 8 and has been an integral part of the spectacle the promotion puts on for their MMA fights.

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He took the lead again at UFC 301, but made a rare mistake in MMA legend Anthony Smith’s victory over Vitor Betrino.

After submitting his rival, Smith entered the center of the cage to make his victory official, but Buffer accidentally declared “Vitor” as the winner.

Immediately realizing his mistake, Buffer corrected himself as Smith turned around and shared a laugh with the famous announcer.

It was a topic that later came up during the post-fight press conference, and Smith admitted he felt bad for the UFC cult hero.

He said: “I feel really bad for Buffer. I know how serious he is, how much he loves his job and how professional he is.

“He’s really hard on himself. Bruce and I are friends, and we work together a lot. So he takes his job very seriously.

“He takes it to heart; he puts all his heart and soul into this work.

“I feel bad because he’s probably disappointed about it. I hope I can talk to him afterwards.

“I’m fine with that – people make mistakes. It’s no big deal. I just hope he doesn’t beat himself up too much.”

It was a moment of relief for both men after the result was clarified, which sees Smith return to the win column after losing to Khalil Rountree in December 2023.

A similar mistake was made at UFC 297, when Charle͏s Jourdain lost to Sean Woodson but was announced as the winner by Buffer.

Officials then intervened and ensured that Buffer declared the correct winner, much to Jourdain’s confusion.

It was an action-packed night at the latest UFC 301 pay-per-view and it’s no wonder Buffer found himself in trouble.

UFC icon Jose Aldo returned to the octagon, outpointing Jonathan Martinez in a bantamweight clash.

In the main event, Alexandre Pantoja defeated Steve Erceg on points to retain his flyweight title in a second defense.

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