Through The Cage - From the outside looking in...

So we recently were able to catch up with Jason Hite and ask him some questions on what its like to be a ring announcer.

*A NOTE*  Jason recently got married on Oct 10.  Congratulations to him and his Wife!

TTC: How did you get into ring announcing?

JASON: Well, actually, I kinda lucked into it.  The place I was working for was going to host an event for the Barbarian Fight Club and I approached the owners, Matt Douglas and Billy Wood, about always wanting to be an announcer for events.  I told them they wouldn’t be sorry!  They offered me a chance to do that fight and here I am over a year later and have been doing it ever since!

TTC: Do you practice on your way to the fight, or even in the shower?

Jason: Honestly, if I practiced before hand I would lose my voice!  I get very animated during the announcing part of my gig!  My job consists of not only announcing the fights but also advertising for the vendors, and getting the crowd pumped up before, between and after the fights.  I am essentially the voice of the Barbarian Fight Club and it’s a lot of talking in the course of one night! 

TTC: Do you come up with material before hand, or is it all spontaneous? 

Jason: The only thing I do beforehand is to get with the vendors and find out who they are and what they do, I meet with Matt and Billy to find out any special things they want done for the evening, and I look over the list of fighters and make sure I can pronounce their names and nicknames correctly!  Sometimes it’s not that easy with nicknames like “Osu Niko” and the like!

TTC: So you will be getting married in less than a month, do you practice "lines" on your fiance? 

Jason: My fiancé heard all my lines when we first met!!!  Though honestly, sometimes I will ask her for something funny to say in the ring.  She comes with me to all the fights I announce.  I really don’t think I could do a fight without her now, she wipes my forehead when I sweat from the lights and commends me when I do something right!  I love her so much!

TTC: Do you do any other announcing/voice over gigs? 

Jason:Not right now, but if anyone out there is looking for someone, I’d be happy to entertain the notion.  I happen to think I do my job VERY well, and there is an awesome BFC crowd that totally agrees with me!  ;-)

TTC: Unfortunately, we don't make enough money to pay bills off of MMA hobbies, so whats your 'real' job? 

Jason: I am a customer accounts executive with Comcast!  You think the fighters can get mean in the ring, you should hear what some ticked off cable customers are like!!!!!

You can catch Jason at the next Barbarian Fight Club show.  Visit www.barbarianfightclub.com for tickets and info.   Photos from all Barbarian and other local Fights are all at www.mmafightpics.com