Selma Rovini, announcer during boxing or MMA fight evenings, is one of the very rare women mistresses of ceremonies, a profession still perceived by many as being intended for men. A profession whose codes she intends to shake up.
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As she perfects the last little details of her makeup, Selma Rovini gets ready to take the microphone. She is one of the very rare women to act as announcer for an evening of MMA fights.
“Makeup is more important than it seems, explains the one who is responsible for heating the room of nearly 200 people, for the event of the Blackout Versus organization at Novick’s stadium in Rouen, Saturday December 14, 2024. It’s an artistic environment, so makeup is a way of taking on your other character, preparing to do the show by involving each person who came tonight.”
Selma Rovini plays her role as speaker alongside her professional activities. During the day, she is a professional integration coach and project management consultant for youth.
However, she has always been attracted to presentation and entertainment: she has presented television and radio shows. “I was able to act as an announcer during a big MMA event in Fréjus last year which was broadcast on Canal +. It was this exposure that allowed me to do many others since then”, explains the enthusiast who has hosted these evenings for seven years.
If she is now a frequent announcer, it is also thanks to her work. “I had to learn to control my voice, have strength, know the environment, the boxers, says the one who has already heated rooms in Morocco and Tunisia. Then it’s habit and experience that comes into play. I’ve developed my own style of asking if people are hot.”
Practicing a profession carried out mainly by men did not scare him. “I clearly saw it as a challenge for me because there are almost no women who are announcers. We have to fight, in environments where there are more men. That’s what I I try to make the young women I meet in my daily work understand.”
However, she admits that she had to come up against certain obstacles during her journey. “I have already had comments from organizers who could not conceive for a second of putting a woman on the microphone, it had to be a man.”
Being a speaker is also a way of instilling courage in young women who would like to do a similar job, to prove to them that it is not just reserved for men and that they are capable of it.
Selma Rovini, speaker at boxing and MMA galas
Despite this, today she manages to take the microphone and is delighted to see more women in the audience. “Sometimes, some people come to me and tell me that my presentation was great, it’s very motivating,” confides the 48-year-old announcer.
“As I am often reminded at the same galas, other times, I am just entitled to a comment regarding a change of hairstyle. she admits, laughing.
Next step for the one nicknamed the “queen you call” ? “To become the number one announcer in MMA. Tonight is good, it’s my first. To find yourself in a cage is impressive.”
