Jimmy Smith Comments On the Differences Between WWE And MMA Commentary

Jimmy Smith has spoken about the differences between doing commentary in WWE and doing the job in UFC or MMA.

Smith made his debut on WWE Raw this past Monday and received positive reviews for his first showing in the announcer's booth, alongside Corey Graves and Byron Saxton. 

The broadcaster previously used to provide commentary for UFC and says his role in UFC was more defined, whereas the lines are more blurred in WWE, permitting him to provide some colour and analysis too.

Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Smith said: "What WWE does with play-by-play and analysis is very different from any other broadcast I've been on. In MMA, play-by-play and analyst are really well-defined roles and one doesn't do what the other does.

"That's not the case in WWE where they do a lot of package stuff and ins and outs with commercials, which is never done by analysts in other sports. Also, I was told in the beginning before we started, 'Jimmy, joint locks are all you.' A play-by-play guy would never do that in MMA, but they respect my MMA ability. 

"The lines are way blurrier than any other sports I've done. So, to hear I did a good job was amazing because it was difficult to keep those lines straight while I was doing it."

When asked about any advice he received leading into the show, Smith added: "On the inside, the advice for me, from everyone from the beginning was 'you may screw up moves' -- they were surprised at all the moves I knew. Byron was like, 'I stepped on you because I didn't think you'd know the name of the move and you did. 

"A big part of it was, 'You have energy. Just have energy. Tell people they should be excited to be here and be excited to be seeing what you're seeing.' That was the advice from like four people."

H/T Fightful