Laura Sanko ready to make history at UFC Fight Night 218

Laura Sanko is set to make history on Fight Night 218 this weekend by becoming the first ever female colour commentator in the UFC‘s modern era.

The former MMA fighter will be the first woman to take on the role since the promotion was founded back in 1993.

Sanko has been part of the UFC’s broadcasts for seven years, working as a backstage reporter and with the commentary team on president Dana White‘s Contender Series.

Sanko has long hoped to work beside the octagon and White is delighted to have her on the main commentary team in Las Vegas.

“I can’t think of anyone better to be the first female colour commentator for the modern UFC era than Laura,” he said.

“She has worked incredibly hard to prove herself and get to this position and I couldn’t be prouder to have her calling the action.”

Sanko also expressed her excitement ahead of the Fight Night 218 in a recent press release.

“It is an honour to walk in the footprint of Kathy Long, 30 years after her appearance on UFC 1.

“I consider it a true privilege to be part of the team that is a voice to our incredible fans, communicating the fighting art of each man and woman who steps inside the UFC Octagon.”

Who is Laura Sanko?

During Sanko’s MMA career, she went by the ring name ‘Fancy’ and competed in the atomweight class.

She made just one professional appearance inside the octagon, but it ended in a win over Cassie Robb at Invicta FC 4 in 2013.

Sanko kicked off her broadcasting career three years later, initially working as a backstage reporter for UFC on Fox.

She is also a reporter and analyst on ESPN and has a YouTube channel, on which she discusses MMA fights.

Sanko boasts more than 350,000 followers on Instagram.

Who is fighting at UFC Fight Night 218?

Derrick Lewis and Sergey Spivak will headline UFC Vegas 68 on Saturday.

Here are the rest of the fights booked on both the main and preliminary cards.

© Provided by Give Me Sport DALLAS, TEXAS – JULY 30: Derrick Lewis enters the octagon for his heavyweight bout against Sergei Pavlovich of Russia during UFC 277 at American Airlines Center on July 30, 2022 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

Main card

Jung Da-un vs Devin Clark 

Marcin Tybura vs Blagoy Ivanov 

Choi Doo-ho vs Kyle Nelson 

Yusaku Kinoshita vs Adam Fugitt 

Preliminary card

Jeka Saragih vs Anshul Jubli 

Lee Jeong-yeong vs Yi Zha

Toshiomi Kazama vs Rinya Nakamura

Choi Seung-guk vs Park Hyun-sung

Kim Ji-yeon vs Mandy Bohm 

Park Jun-yong vs Denis Tiuliulin 

Tatsuro Taira vs Jesús Santos Aguilar

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