Laura Sanko is a former professional MMA fighter who has turned into an on air personality for the UFC, Invicta FC and other promotions.
While Sanko has a lot of goals to achieve, one of her biggest is to become the first ever female color commentator in the UFC.
“My dream would be to eventually be part of that booth,” Sanko told MMA Junkie. “One of the things that’s kind of allowed me to succeed in this job despite no broadcasting training whatsoever, is I do really understand the fight game. Over the years, I feel like behind the scenes, in production meeting and even just hanging out, I’ve been able to kind of demonstrate to all of the guys, whether it’s Paul (Felder) or Dominick (Cruz) or (Michael) Bisping, that I really do what the hell I’m talking about. My hope is that one day I can have a little bit, even more of a voice there. But any amount of time I can spend there talking to those guys is pretty awesome.”
The UFC has been around for over two decades now, but the promotion has yet to have a female color commentator in that time.
One thing Sanko knows is that her goal is not going to be achieved in a quick amount of time.
“I would love that,” Sanko said. “That is definitely a goal. I don’t think it’s one that’s necessarily going to happen anytime soon, but it’s one I’m working toward and I hope one day to make that come to fruition. It’s tough, though. The hurdles that are in my way are not necessarily one people would assume, like, ‘Oh, they don’t want a woman.’ That’s not the case. I think they really like to have former UFC fighters there and they I think they really like to have higher profile UFC fighters there, so that’s one thing that doesn’t happen on my resume. I like to think that over my years with the UFC, with Contender Series I’ve shown my fight knowledge over the interviews I do. I can tell that over time people have started to realize I do really understand the game and can provide on the spot analysis of what’s happening in a fight.”
Sanko is expected to be a part of the on air team for the upcoming UFC 249 event, but that role will be as a reporter and interviewer.
