Chicago White Sox play-by-play voice John Schriffen took a step away from the baseball diamond on Tuesday to make his broadcasting debut in an entirely different, new sport to him.
Schriffen, who is off this week from his duties calling the White Sox, appeared as the play-by-play broadcaster of Dana White’s Contender Series alongside Laura Sanko and Paul Felder.
🚨| John Schriffen calls his first UFC event tonight alongside Laura Sanko and Paul Felder on #DWCS. pic.twitter.com/koEJ8IYAb6
— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) August 20, 2024
It’s a far different setting for Schriffen than he has had to this point in his broadcasting career. Along with his duties with the White Sox, he also works at ESPN, serving on several different sports including college football, basketball, softball, and the NBA G-league.
Recently, an executive from the White Sox shared that Schriffen will be returning to be the voice of the White Sox in 2025. So it seems like his future is fully committed to the organization moving forward.
However, this debut from Schriffen is at least somewhat interesting when you consider how longtime UFC play-by-play broadcaster Jon Anik has previously opened up about potentially seeking other opportunities outside of MMA by 2026.
The reaction to his UFC debut was generally positive.
Shout out @JohnSchriffen making his #DWCS debut on play by play! You can tell this dude genuinely loves the sport.
— Dan (@BestFightPicks) August 20, 2024
@JohnSchriffen is killing it on UFC commentary! 👏👏👏 #DWCS #Whitesox
— ScoopaKoopa44 (@Azari44) August 21, 2024
This ain’t a dig. @JohnSchriffen is much better at commenting ufc mma fights than he is #WhiteSox games. Hope he gets a lot of calls to do more ufc fights in baseball offseason
— Bologna Sandwich (@BolognaBudz) August 21, 2024
Could Schriffen potentially find himself diving deeper into the MMA space in the future? That obviously remains to be seen. But his debut was overall a quite favorable one in the eyes of the majority of UFC fans watching the event.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.