Exclusive: Mike Goldberg recalls reaction after Dana White informed UFC staff of media rights deal with Spike TV

Mike Goldberg recently recalled his reaction after Dana White informed the UFC staff that the promotion had signed a media rights deal with Spike TV. He noted that it was a monumental deal at the time as it allowed the promotion to gain more exposure and create new stars.

Goldberg served as the UFC's play-by-play commentator for 19 years, most of them alongside Joe Rogan, and witnessed the growth of the promotion from niche market to mainstream appeal. He was with the promotion during their difficult financial period and how Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar on 'The Ultimate Fighter' 1 helped secure a deal with Spike TV.

During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Goldberg mentioned that he and the rest of the UFC staff were thrilled when White made the Spike TV deal official. He mentioned that the deal allowed the promotion to adopt a similar strategy used in WWE by hooking the audience on free TV and selling them on purchasing the pay-per-views:

"We were all fired up... It was like, 'Okay, we're able to bottle this formula now'. And the reason WWE had such great success is they would throw out these guys and they would make them popular and they would make them loved or hated... and then WrestleMania, boom, hit that pay button and here we go. So, it was a big moment... There were extra shows and it gave us not only that, but it was the periphery programming that came around it."

Check out the full exclusive interview featuring Mike Goldberg's comments regarding Dana White's deal with Spike TV below (19:00):

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Mike Goldberg explains why Dana White's UFC stopped using pyro for entrances

During the aforementioned interview, Mike Goldberg also shares the reason behind Dana White's UFC stopping the use of pyro for entrances. The promotion utilized pyro and stages similar to WWE during their earlier pay-per-views before changing their configuration.

Goldberg disclosed that the UFC spent plenty of money on pyro for a grander production, which factored into their debt:

"They were spending a lot of money on fireworks and they were tremendous entrances... They realized that that money wasn't needed to be spent and this is before we get to the big hole... We didn't want to be the WWE. We wanted to be bigger than we were before, but if you go too far, you become too close to WWE." [11:25]

Check out highlights of Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock featuring Dana White's UFC utilizing pyro and a stage below: