Before the referee calls the start to the action and the fists start flying on a UFC card, the first person you see and hear from is Bruce Buffer.

The veteran "Voice of the Octagon" has been on the job for 25 years, announcing the fighters and results in MMA’s biggest promotion.

Ahead of UFC 258, Buffer joined TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter to talk about iconic moments from his career.

Here are a some excerpts from their conversation:

Buffer on his love for Canada and Canadian fans:

“Each card in each city has its own specific flavour. The one thing about Canadian fans is that if you have 10,000 fans, they sound like 40 or 50,000. They get so excited; they love their UFC. I’ve done thousands of shows, events, fights - it’s very hard for me to particularly focus on one - but I do remember the great shows in Canada, because the fans are rabid, man.”

Buffer on the injury he suffered at the historic UFC 129 card in Toronto:

“I was announcing Georges St-Pierre. I had an ankle injury - I rolled my ankle the previous Saturday and I couldn’t even stand on my leg that Thursday, [but] I managed to be able to stand and walk on Friday. When I got in the Octagon that night, that was the biggest show in UFC history, sold out in 20 minutes. 55,000 tickets - it was crazy. When I announced Georges, Georges lunged out at me as he always lunges out and I bunny hopped back as I always do..my bad ankle landed and it wobbled and my whole knee exploded. I severed my ACL completely.”

Buffer on rehabbing that injury alongside St-Pierre:

“Georges blew his knee about three months later. I didn’t get operated on until three months later when I had an opening. Lo and behold, I get into rehab and who else is in rehab with me but Georges. We both got operated on by the same doctor. It’s funny, I blow my knee out announcing him, he blows his knee in training and we both get operated on by the same doctor and we both wind up in the same rehab together.”

Buffer on the It’s Time catchphrase and being himself:

“I’ve never been phrase-driven; everyone wants me to copy my brother (Michael Buffer), but you’ve got to be original in life and I told myself that in the first two to three years, if I didn’t develop my own original style and be recognized for being Bruce Buffer, then I was just going to not do this job. I would’ve quit. That’s not the kind of individual I am. So, I wasn’t phrase-driven, but eventually, organically, it happened. I figured the fans have been sitting here for five hours or more, here’s the main event, the fighters have been training for eight weeks, they’re in the main event. It’s Time. This is what it all comes down to, this is truly the moment we’ve been waiting for and that’s how it all developed from that point forward.”

Buffer on his passion after 25 years on the job:

“I’m a kid in a candy store, my passion is higher than ever, I love what I do. I’ve seen everything, I’ve seen every fighter, I’ve announced every fighter over the last 25 years, but the beauty of the UFC is, next Saturday when I’m in the Octagon, I can see the greatest fight I’ve ever seen. I can see the new warriors up and coming that are making their mark. It just feeds my passion and feeds my want to keep doing what I’m doing.”​