Not Done Yet at 69: Bruce Buffer Brings His Garden Fire to UFC 334 and Says the Voice of the Octagon Has Years Left

Before Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit ever touch gloves on Saturday night, one of the most famous voices in combat sports will step into the Octagon at Madison Square Garden and do the thing he has done for three decades. Bruce Buffer is 69 years old, and he says he is nowhere close to finished.

In an interview with OutKick, Buffer said he plans to keep announcing for at least another 10 years. He is looking ahead to UFC 400, but he told the outlet he does not intend for that milestone to be his last night on the job. His explanation was the kind of thing you hear from fighters, not broadcasters: "I've been an athlete my whole life," he said, adding that he still trains and wants to keep going.

Buffer has been moving the finish line further out for a while. In an earlier interview with BJPenn.com, he said he likely had about 10 years left, or roughly until UFC 400, while making clear that his health and his desire to do the job would decide when he steps away.

The National, which spoke with Buffer this month around the UFC's Abu Dhabi event, described him as the promotion's official voice for three decades. That run has been remarkably steady. When a COVID-19 diagnosis kept him away from UFC 267 in 2021, CBS Sports reported, it ended a 25-year streak of announcing every numbered UFC event.

Buffer has worked arenas all over the world, which is why his words about this one carry weight. He told the New York Post that the energy inside Madison Square Garden "overtakes me". In that interview, he called the building the greatest arena in the world and described feeling the presence of the legends who fought there before him the moment he walks in. He also said he brings the same energy to every crowd, whether it is small or packed to the rafters.

Saturday's main event has had more trash talk than most, and Buffer has noticed. The announcer has criticized Hokit's antics in the build-up to his heavyweight title shot against Gane, telling him to "show some class," MMA Mania reported. Even so, Buffer has made clear he will still give Hokit the full, trademark introduction when the challenger's moment comes.

That is the professional's answer. You can disagree with how a man carries himself and still do your job for him with everything you have.

There is a reason people turn up the volume when Buffer walks to the center of the cage. In a sport built on fighters, he has become part of the ritual itself, the last thing a fighter hears before the most important 25 minutes of his life.

What strikes me about this latest interview is not the number of years he wants to keep going. It is the reason he gives. He talks about training, about effort, about giving every crowd the same fire whether the building is half-full or sold out. That is a work ethic most of us could stand to borrow, at 29 or at 69.

There is something old-fashioned about it, too. Buffer showed up for 25 straight years of numbered events before an illness finally broke the streak. In an age when people treat jobs as stepping stones, that kind of faithfulness to one calling is rare. And his message to Hokit fits the same pattern: compete hard, respect the moment, show some class.

On Saturday night, the Garden will be loud long before the first punch of the main event. Somewhere in the middle of that noise, a 69-year-old man with a microphone will remind everyone why they came. If Buffer has his way, he will be doing it for a long time to come.