Travelling from one place to another may not be everyone’s cup of tea. That was apparent in veteran color commentator Joe Rogan’s case, who stopped attending international UFC events over the past few years. The 58-year-old is not just engaged in his broadcasting duties, but also has his multi-million-dollar JRE podcast, so, understandably, he’s not able to fly overseas for Dana White‘s promotion. However, another prominent figure in the UFC has also decided to snub international trips now.

Last weekend, the UFC Rio Fight Night gave us an exciting main event fight where Charles Oliveira returned to the winning column. But some people were missing, and besides Joe Rogan, a noted absence was announcer Bruce Buffer. In a video he posted on YouTube, ‘The Veteran Voice of the Octagon’ spoke about his absence in Rio de Janeiro this past Saturday, which is also going to be the case this weekend.

Bruce Buffer comments on his absence at UFC Rio and UFC Vancouver

In a video that was recorded before last weekend’s Fight Night event, Bruce Buffer revealed that he had been getting a lot of messages and requests from fans to be there in Rio de Janeiro. However, due to undisclosed circumstances, the 68-year-old did not travel to Brazil. “I’ve been getting DMs and messages [with questions about] Am I going to be in Rio de Janeiro. I’ve not been in Brazil for a little while now,” Buffer said on YouTube.

Since the fans were hoping to see him there at the show, Bruce Buffer apologized for his absence at UFC Rio. His role was, in fact, donned by Joe Martinez. “I’m sorry to say, unfortunately, I will not be there. The microphone duties will be held by Joe Martinez, who’ll do the fine job as always,” Buffer further stated. And then, there’s this week’s sad news.

Bruce Buffer has also confirmed that the story is the same for this weekend, and UFC Vancouver won’t feature him. It will be the next PPV, UFC 321, where Buffer will make his return, and he seems quite excited about it. “Next week, I will not be in Vancouver, but I will be in Abu Dhabi, which is a heck of a show shaping up, and that’s going to be really, really good.”

UFC’s return to Vancouver this weekend is coming with a middleweight main event featuring Reinier de Ridder and Brendan Allen. The overall card is quite exciting, featuring Kevin Holland in the co-main event, alongside names like Marlon Vera, Drew Dober, Manon Fiorot, and Matt Frevola. As far as the broadcast team is concerned, it has been confirmed that Daniel Cormier will make his return to the commentary booth.

Daniel Cormier will be in this weekend’s UFC Vancouver commentary booth

One member of the popular UFC commentary trio, Daniel Cormier, will be there despite Jon Anik and Joe Rogan‘s absence in Vancouver. He’ll be accompanied by Brendan Fitzgerald and former fighter Paul Felder. Joe Martinez will reprise the Octagon announcer role in the last Fight Night event before the next PPV.

As always, the roving reporter, who’ll be interacting with fighters behind the scenes and interviewing them, will be Megan Olivi. On the desk, Karyn Bryant will serve as the anchor alongside veterans Anthony Smith and Michael Chiesa.

UFC Vancouver does have some faces who are starting to become regulars at UFC events. However, do you think the lack of figures like Joe Rogan, who once claimed to have stopped travelling to Canada, Bruce Buffer, and others affects the interest level fans have for this event? Let us know in the comments.