Winners & Losers: From Second Brother to Las Vegas GOAT

Spend enough time in Las Vegas and you get to know a few cool people with clout.

One of them is Ronn Nicolli, the chief marketing officer of the casino Resorts World Las Vegas. He runs Zouk, the happening nightclub there.

When I was visiting Vegas late last year, Nicolli invited me to Zouk and put me and other friends of his on stage, alongside the DJ.

The crowd was typical for a show that was one of the best in Las Vegas – good looking, in their 20s and 30s, having a blast. Standing out among the revelers: me and another older guy. I was in jeans and untucked shirt. He wore a gorgeous suit and tie. 

Then, right before the night’s headliner, “Sugar” Sean O’Malley (an MMA-fighter turned DJ), took to the stage, this guy ran out there and did a ring announcer introduction, projecting to the crowd in a booming voice, “It’s tiiiime…”

Everyone seemed to be booing and I felt bad for the dude. Then I realized that they were saying Bruuuuce, not booooo.

The man with the mic was Bruce Buffer, who made his bones as a UFC ring announcer. People in the audience held up cell phones, recording his intro. 

Some displayed prepared messages on their screens. One read: Bruce Buffer = GOAT. Another had his name and a line drawing of a goat. 

Blown away, I remember loving the reality of a guy winning in Vegas without needing to make a single bet.

That said, I later found out that Buffer is an avid poker player and he’s a bit different to most grinders at your average online poker tournaments.

He’s collected some $567,000 in tournament cashes and logged an eighth-place finish at a World Series of Poker event this month, for a prize of $212,423. He also hosts a home-game where he plays with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. 

Making Buffer’s notoriety among nightclub kids into even more of an advantage play: His brother is Michael Buffer, the famous professional boxing announcer. At this point, it’s hard to tell who is bigger. 

Bruce took his gig with UFC more than 20 years ago, after the then-fledgling fight league tried to get Michael Buffer but couldn’t (his pro boxing employers did not want Michael to have two jobs). So, they turned to the other Buffer.

By taking his gig with UFC, Bruce, a former telemarketer, must have seemed like a second-tier sibling. No more. “UFC has so much energy,” Nicolli tells me over lunch at the fantastic Wally’s insider Resorts World. “Bruce is so recognizable that we actually move him around Resorts World with security. As soon as someone recognizes him as Bruce Buffer, we have so many people coming up to him. He loves engaging with fans, but I bring him in the way I bring in the entertainers.”

As put by Buffer’s manager, Garrett Marchesano, “When Bruce is in Las Vegas, he goes from being a C-list celebrity to an A-list celebrity. It’s because that’s where UFC is located and where Bruce does 50 percent of his work. His notoriety in Vegas is bigger than anywhere else in the world.”

Nicolli attributes Bruce’s fame to the virality of UFC, his charisma with young fight fans and, of course, the resonant voice.

He’s better known than many UFC fighters and you can even bet on the length of his main event introduction with UFC sportsbooks when big fights happen.

He even has a quality that the famous UFC scrappers dig. “When fighters are in the club, and Bruce is there as well,” said Nicolli, “they go to him. Bruce will be on stage, and I’ll get texts that certain fighters want to come up and say hello.”

Maybe they recognize that Bruce Buffer – -with his poker wins, venerable announcing career and a brother that he has out-maneuvered in the fame game  – is a true advantage player with longevity. “Many fighters in the UFC come and go,” said Nicolli. “It’s about wins and losses. But Bruce is the personality. He’s always winning.”