“How about that view?”

Brendan Fitzgerald panned his camera from his hotel room to the sunrise-bathed skyline of Vancouver, Canada.

He was in the Great White North to call UFC Fight Night: de Ridder vs. Allen, the latest stop on his winding journey to the apex of mixed martial arts.

Though job opportunities have taken him back and forth across the United States, since childhood, Fitzgerald had little doubt about where he’d end up.

“Once I figured out [broadcasting] was a job, it was pretty cut and dried,” he said. “I was sitting in math class in sixth grade [thinking], ‘I’m going to be on TV at some point talking about sports.’” 

Growing up in Cape Cod, Fitzgerald had plenty of broadcast inspiration to draw from. Boston’s domination of the four major sports — baseball, basketball, football and hockey — played a large role in his beginnings in broadcasting.

“Boston gives you the perfect example of what you want to be,” he said. “Seeing the sports production at the highest level with your favorite teams was just awesome.”

Fitzgerald specifically cited the work of legendary Boston-area professional sports commentators Jack Edwards, Gil Santos and Don Orsillo.

“[Boston’s] a big city that feels like a small town — everybody’s in it together,” Fitzgerald said. “I think that’s why a lot of broadcasters do come out of Boston.” 

While his formative years in Massachusetts shaped his broadcast instincts, mixed martial arts was an entirely new world.

Fitzgerald had never called a fight before when he auditioned for the play-by-play role on “Dana White’s Contender Series.”

In fact, he had little knowledge of mixed martial arts as a whole, and his shows usually spanned an hour or less. Now, he was being asked to head a roughly two-hour show — and eventually, spend six hours in front of the camera at once.

“Going from three-to-five minute news segments to hosting a 30-minute show on ESPNU was a big step up,” Fitzgerald said. “There’s no other sport that does what we do.”

His prior experiences in broadcasting helped Fitzgerald develop into a mixed martial arts commentator on the fly. 

“I went to Wyoming, and I covered rodeos and high school sports, and I went down to south Texas and I was a minority there, and so you can figure your way through a lot of stuff,” he said.

That mentality can also be crucial when the highly unpredictable nature of the sport is made evident, even after years of broadcast experience.

In May, Maycee Barber withdrew from her main event slot against Erin Blanchfield just as the fighters were set to walk out.

“That’s the job description for calling a fight, right? Not knowing how the fight is going to go, and then calling it and picking the words in real time,” Fitzgerald said. “You lean back on your training as a broadcaster, and you relay the information to the fans as good as you can.”

However, his role as the lead play-by-play announcer is not just to explain what he sees, but to craft the story of each fight.

“My job is to make [each fight] a big deal to the fans at home who have never heard of [the fighters],” he said. “What can you tell them that makes them care in that moment and elevate whatever moment they have to be even bigger?”

The storytelling doesn’t end with the main event for Fitzgerald. A few days later, he typically sits down with his guitar to write and perform a song about the event to post on Instagram.

The idea for UFC-related country songs had kicked around in his head for a few years, but an Eric Church concert inspired Fitzgerald to focus on guitar and develop his talent.

“I should probably start doing this UFC song idea that’s been in my head — start it, see what comes of it,” he said. “I think it just caught so many people by surprise.” 

Fellow UFC commentator Laura Sanko advocated for a song for each card, and Fitzgerald obliged. Many now eagerly await the weekly video to see how Fitzgerald spins the narrative of the event into song.

“It’s a creative outlet that’s related to my job, that can draw me closer to fans [and] fighters,” he said. “It’s been a hell of a lot of fun.” 

He’s not concerned with any career opportunities the songwriting might provide — besides a potential collaboration with a country superstar. On the career front, he’s satisfied with where he is.Fitzgerald has joined his idols as a broadcaster who reached the pinnacle of their respective sport. 

One thing stood out the most to him about the quest to achieve his boyhood dream: “to step back and know that what you hoped for is possible.”

“You have to want to do something. You have to have the courage to go for it, and you have to have the belief that you can do it,” he said. “Even though it’s tough, you can do it.”