Bruce Buffer is the official octagon announcer for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), known as the "Veteran Voice of the Octagon".

He regularly plays poker, with his best result coming in 2024 when he finished eighth in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Event #39: $50,000 High Roller for $212,423.

Bruce Buffer Background

Buffer was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma and first started martial arts as a teenager. He gave up the sport in his 30s and transitioned into being a full-time ring announcer, a gig that began with UFC 13.

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Bruce Buffer Poker History

As well as being a ring announcer, Buffer has a close relationship with poker, which started as a child and began to blossom after after a deep run in the Season III World Poker Tour Celebrity Invitational.

"Poker is something I started at a very young age," Buffer told PokerNews in 2011. "My father, who loved to play blackjack and poker, taught me all about gambling, literally, when I was eight years old.

"In 2005, the first tournament I ever entered was at the Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City when I was there doing a UFC. I wound up bubbling the final table, so that sort of fueled my fire."

The World Poker Tour Invitational in 2005 had a field of 238 players, with Buffer eliminating Carlos Mortensen and making it to a final table that featured Chris Ferguson, Chau Giang and Alex Brenes. Buffer finished sixth for $5,000.

"I was on TV playing and that just set me off to the point where I knew now I had a chance to really make money at this, something I truly loved and enjoyed."

Off the back of this result, Buffer's involvement in poker intensified. He became a "Friend of Full Tilt" off the back of his deep WPT run and opened the Bruce Buffer High-Stakes Poker Room at the Luxor casino in Las Vegas.

"I think only four other people had rooms named after them in Vegas, if I’m not mistaken. So to be able to say I’m one of the five, it was a great run, great for my résumé."

Over the years, he has announced the traditional "Shuffle up and deal" at numerous events including the World Series of Poker Main Event, the PokerStars Poker Players Championship and the WPT Shooting Star. He also appeared on Poker After Dark’s “Fight Night” in 2021, only to be eliminated by Daniel Negreanu.

Prior to his WSOP final table, Buffer's biggest cash came in 2010 when he won the Grand Slam of Poker Main Event at the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles.

The $225 buy-in tournament saw 1,484 players enter, creating a $286,600 prize pool. Buffer took home $75,000 for his efforts.

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