Mauro Ranallo

Commentator · Advocate

Canada

Bipolar disorderSelf-disclosed [1]

Mauro Ranallo is a Canadian sports commentator best known for calling boxing, mixed martial arts and professional wrestling. His career has included work with Pride Fighting Championships, Strikeforce, Showtime, WWE and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and he has called some of combat sports’ highest-profile events. [6]

Last updated September 15, 2026

Career and work

Ranallo began working in professional wrestling broadcasting as a teenager in British Columbia, first appearing with All-Star Wrestling before moving into play-by-play commentary. Over the following decades, he built a career across professional wrestling, mixed martial arts, boxing and kickboxing. [1]

He became the voice of Pride Fighting Championships and later served as lead announcer for Strikeforce. His other combat-sports work has included Showtime Championship Boxing, Glory Kickboxing and Bellator MMA. In 2015, he called the international broadcast of the Floyd Mayweather–Manny Pacquiao fight. [6]

Ranallo joined WWE in 2016 as the play-by-play voice of SmackDown and later became a commentator for NXT. He has been noted for working across every major combat-sports category on national television. [7]

What has been publicly discussed

“Bipolar disorder is a blessing as much as it’s a curse.”
— Mauro Ranallo [3]

The following sources contain information that supports the claims made in this profile.

Global NewsHow B.C.’s Mauro Ranallo rose to the top of sports broadcasting while living with bipolar disorder
Supports Ranallo’s early broadcasting career, diagnosis with bipolar affective disorder at 19, and later decision to speak publicly about his experience.
Los Angeles TimesMauro Ranallo calls some of combat sports’ biggest events. But his real fight is against the stigma of mental illness
Covers Ranallo’s career, repeated hospitalizations, episodes of mania and depression, and his effort to challenge stigma through Bipolar Rock ‘N’ Roller.
MMA FightingMauro Ranallo on how his bipolar disorder is “a blessing as much as it’s a curse”
A first-person interview covering his first episode at 19, 2003 hospitalization, career, continuing symptoms and mental-health advocacy. It is also the source of the profile’s quotation.
Sports IllustratedMauro Ranallo on ‘Bipolar Rock N Roller’: “I Wanted It to Be Difficult to Watch”
Supports Ranallo’s accounts of hospitalization, suicidal periods, the effects of bipolar disorder on his life and family, treatment, and his reasons for making the documentary.
ShowtimeBipolar Rock ‘N’ Roller
The documentary follows Ranallo’s life with bipolar disorder through personal footage, interviews with Ranallo, his family and doctors, and discussion of his career and mental-health advocacy.
WWEWWE
WWEWWE
PhillyVoicePhillyVoice
Sports IllustratedSports Illustrated

Recommended books and other resources about Mauro Ranallo and lived experience.

Documentary · Showtime, 2018Bipolar Rock ‘N’ Roller
A documentary centered on Ranallo’s life with bipolar disorder, combining his account of hospitalization, suicidal periods and treatment with footage of his broadcasting career and interviews with family members and clinicians.
Interview · MMA FightingMauro Ranallo on how his bipolar disorder is “a blessing as much as it’s a curse”
A substantial interview about Ranallo’s diagnosis at 19, later episodes, hospitalization, career pressures and his changing relationship with bipolar disorder.
Documentary · Sports IllustratedMauro Ranallo on Bipolar Rock ‘N’ Roller
Ranallo discusses why he wanted the documentary to show the difficult parts of bipolar disorder rather than present a simplified recovery story, along with his treatment and advocacy.
Profile · Global NewsThe Voice and the Battle: Mauro Ranallo
A detailed profile of Ranallo’s path from a young broadcaster in British Columbia to an internationally known combat-sports commentator while living with bipolar disorder.

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