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Laura Sanko is keeping busy now that she’s been added to the UFC broadcast team.
After making her debut at UFC Vegas 68 and becoming the first woman to call the fights in the modern era of the promotion, Sanko returns to her duties at UFC Vegas 69.
Sanko is set to serve as a color commentator on Saturday alongside retired UFC lightweight contender Paul Felder, with Brendan Fitzgerald handling the play-by-play for the card. Heidi Androl will handle reporting duties from the UFC APEX in Las Vegas.
The broadcasting assignments were confirmed by ESPN on Thursday.
There had been calls for years to add Sanko to the broadcast team, and it’s a responsibility she takes very seriously after Kathy Long was the only other woman to ever call UFC fights way back at the broadcast debut for the organization in 1994.
“I feel the responsibility of the new, more elevated role, and I think commentary in general is a big responsibility,” Sanko told MMA Fighting. “Because at the end of the day, you are trying to connect the fighting art, that an athlete has poured their heart and soul into, to an audience that can’t see or feel or touch it in real time, and you’re the conduit to connect that art with the people at home, which sounds a little bit high and mighty, but it’s a big responsibility, and I take it really seriously, and I’m incredibly honored to be able to be in a position to do that for the men and women on the UFC roster.”
The three-person team with Fitzgerald, Sanko, and Felder will call the card headlined by a flyweight fight pitting ex-UFC champion Jessica Andrade against top prospect Erin Blanchfield.
Andrade accepted the fight on just one-week’s notice after Taila Santos was forced off the card when her husband and trainer were unable to secure visas to travel into the United States.
The main event could have title implications on the line if Blanchfield can get past Andrade and build on her undefeated record in the UFC.
The five-fight main card for UFC Vegas 69 starts at 7 p.m. ET, while the prelims kick off at 4 p.m. ET, with the entire event airing on ESPN+.
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