Behind The ScenesCOVID-19ESPN MusicInnovationMMA

SportsCenter’s Michael Eaves Has Cameo In New Eminem Music Video Debuting Saturday

Eaves plays himself in a new music video that debuts Saturday during UFC Live: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 Pre-Show (2 p.m. ET, ABC)

(L-R) Michael Eaves, UFC President Dana White, Eminem (ESPN Marketing)

In his years of broadcasting, SportsCenter anchor Michael Eaves has covered Super Bowls, NBA Finals, World Series, golf majors, the Olympic Games, and more.

Now he can add appearing in a music video to his resume.

Eaves plays himself in a new music video that rapper Eminem will debut Saturday during UFC Live: Poirier vs. McGregor 2 Pre-Show (2 p.m. ET, ABC). Eaves is the host of the program.

The song is “Higher” and the music video prominently features footage from ESPN’s UFC coverage and centers around Eminem mirroring both being a musician and a world-class athlete. The way he prepares to rap and create music is the same way an athlete trains and prepares for competition.

In his scene in the video, Eaves interviews Eminem and UFC president Dana White. He recorded his part this past week on the SportsCenter set, and Eminem and White’s parts were edited together by the video’s producers.

“The tie–in is about battles, and basically Eminem is having this rap battle against himself,” said Eaves. “He’s really known for being able to freestyle and battle rap, as it’s called, and he’s going to be doing that against himself.

“One line that I read – ‘It’s one thing to conquer your competition but something else to conquer your demons.'”

Eaves was asked to get involved in the video by Glenn Jacobs, ESPN Vice President, MMA Production.

“They gave me a script to be read, and I tweaked it a little bit in terms of the language and how I speak on SportsCenter,” he said.

Eaves has enjoyed Eminem’s work since the rapper’s early years on the scene.

“Similar to how people talk about the greatest athletes of all-time, people use different criteria when discussing the best rappers of all time,” he said. “But when it comes to the ability to deliver lyrics, you would be hard-pressed to find anyone better than Eminem.”

Eminem has been featured in ESPN’s UFC 257 creative for the last month.

Visit ESPN PressRoom for full details on UFC 257

Back to top button