Joe A. Martinez | |
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Occupation | Ring/Sports Announcer |
Years active | 1996–present |
Employer | JAM Entertainment, Inc. |
Joseph Anthony Martinez (born April 10, 1975 in Apple Valley, California) is the ring announcer for Golden Boy Promotions' "Boxeo Estelar" on Estrella TV. A Communications graduate of California State University, Fullerton, Martinez began his professional career in 1996 as both the public address announcer for the Lake Elsinore Storm Minor League Baseball team (a San Diego Padres affiliate) and various Cal State Fullerton athletic programs. He continues to announce for the Storm and retired from Cal State Fullerton in 2014. Martinez is married and has two children with his wife and two step-daughters. He is a Pentecostal Christian and an active member the Bridge Community Church, as well as outreach ministry Grace World Ministries.
In 1996, Martinez began his career as a public address announcer for the Lake Elsinore Storm, a Minor League team affiliate of the San Diego Padres. He announced the Women's College World Series in 1998 and a U.S. Olympic Softball Team tour in 2000. From 2001 to 2002, he worked for The Harlem Globetrotters.
Martinez became the featured ring announcer for Oscar De La Hoya's, Fox reality television series "The Next Great Champ" in 2004. In 2006 he began announcing for Guilty Boxing Promotions on ESPN Deportes. Now he can be seen announcing for Golden Boy Promotions and other promotions on various networks around the world.
Joe was the exclusive cage announcer for World Extreme Cagefighting from 2007-2010. In 2010, WEC was merged into UFC by parent company Zuffa, LLC. Since then, he has joined Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, announcing fights across the globe. With Bruce Buffer unavailable due to a schedule of two shows in two days the UFC brought Martinez in for the first time at the Ultimate Fighter: The Smashes finale in Australia on December 14, 2012. He replaced Bruce Buffer on January 4, 2014, at UFC Fight Night: Saffiedine vs. Lim, an event that was the UFC's debut in Singapore. His third UFC appearance was on June 28, 2014 at UFC Fight Night: Te Huna vs. Marquardt in Auckland, New Zealand and his fourth was at UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Bisping in Sydney, Australia. In 2015 he announced UFC in Brisbane, Australia. His next event was UFC Fight Night: Mir vs. Duffee on July 15, 2015 in San Diego, CA, and did not return to announcing for the UFC until July 13, 2016 when he announced inside the octagon at UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs. Lineker from Sioux Falls, SD.