Charly Arnolt details his historic improvised role as UFC cage announcer: ‘I was scared of making a mistake’

Charles Arnolt initially turned it down when UFC producers came to her with an urgent opportunity in UFC on ESPN 55.

With announcer Joe Martinez battling an illness during Saturday’s card at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, the promotion needed someone to introduce the fighters and read the results of some main card fights.

That’s when Arnolt appeared in the octagon to do the job, becoming the first female cage announcer in company history. It was a significant moment for Arnolt, but it almost didn’t happen.

One of my producers came to me and said, ‘Hey, Joe Martinez, the Octagon announcer is sick — his voice is cracking,'” Arnold said on Sunday. Instagram account. “He doesn’t know if he will be able to make the next announcements. Can you do it?’ I was like, ‘I’m sorry, what are you asking me?’

He said, ‘Listen, if you don’t feel comfortable, you can say that, but we need to figure this out very quickly because time is of the essence, obviously.’ So I told him I was like, ‘Listen, I have to be honest. I don’t know if I feel comfortable doing that. Why do I say this? Because obviously I was scared and ruining a national TV spot on ESPN. I never took on this responsibility for the UFC and I was scared. So I told them, ‘I don’t think I can do this.’ He said, ‘OK, that’s fair. We’ll find out. He leaves.”

Arnolt said he was with two UFC makeup artists at the time when the opportunity arose. A few seconds after she refused, Arnolt’s colleagues encouraged her to come forward and seize the moment.

“While I was there, the two UFC makeup artists looked at me and said, ‘What’s wrong with you? Of course you can do this. You are super talented. You are a professional. Why would you say you are uncomfortable? You need to do this,’” Arnold said. “I was freaking out, but I thought, ‘You’re right, I have to do this. I can’t back down when the team needs me. Then (the producer) responded and I thought, ‘Listen, if you need me, I can do this. I am fine.’

“He said, ‘We’re going to prepare you completely.’ So I was in the background and (the producers) helped me, as well as Joe Martinez, who is giving me all the knowledge he has to help me get through these ads that I’m going crazy about.”

Arnolt admits he was a nervous wreck when the time came. The reaction to his replacement role was overwhelmingly positive, with fans, fighters and media offering almost unanimous praise.

“The time comes, I enter the Octagon, I make my first announcement and I made it,” said Arnold. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, I did it.’ I was kind of in shock. So obviously I had to keep going and a lot of help from the team.

“The point here is not only that I was grateful for the help I received from these people, but I am also very grateful for the trust they gave me. I’m not a person who lacks confidence. I have enough. But I was scared. I was scared of making mistakes, and if it weren’t for the wonderful people who encouraged me, I don’t know if I would have ended up doing this. I’m so grateful I stepped out of my comfort zone, because, damn, I made history.”

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This story originally appeared on MMA Junkie