Laura Sanko – “Every time someone says that word to me, it makes me want to tear up”
Laura Sanko is quickly becoming on of the most influential women in mixed martial arts.
From competing as an MMA fighter to working as a reporter, host, analyst, and then eventually becoming the first woman to work as a UFC color commentator for the UFC, Sanko is breaking barriers for women in the sport.
Sanko began her work under the Zuffa banner in 2016 and in 2021 began doing color commentary for Dana White’s Contender Series. Her work has been televised on FOX Sports and ESPN, and some might say she will down in history as a “trailblazer,” although Sanko doesn’t believe she has earned that title quite yet.
“Every time someone says that word to me, it makes me want to tear up honestly,” Sanko said in an interview with Blockasset’s BLOCK Party. “But then it also makes me … I don’t yet feel worthy of that. I want to be worthy of that. I do want to be that. I guess if I really sit back and go through my DMs, at some point I’m going to have to admit that there is an element of that. It’s just hard for me to use that word for myself.”
Interview with Laura Sanko below
Sanko’s MMA career spans five amateur bouts from 2010 to 2012 and then one professional fight she won on Jan. 5, 2013 at Invicta FC 4. She later earned her start in broadcasting with Invicta and the rest is history. Sanko, 39, is married and has one child.
