Issue 028
August 2007
Aside from the UFC name and the Octagon itself, referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy has been one of the most recognisable parts of almost every UFC show.
One of the sport’s friendliest figures, McCarthy is a pleasure to speak to, even if years of watching him take charge of events gives you the feeling you’d unquestioningly do whatever he tells you.
We asked how things have changed since the wild days of 1994. “It’s a major business now, much more structured compared to how it was before. For my very first show [Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) II] the fighters were changing in this little hellhole of a hotel across the street. It was like a drug emporium in there. Fred Ettish was there as a messenger, running to and from the guys at the hotel and walking them across the street to the arena. They asked him to fight and he just went in there”. McCarthy went on to talk about the chaos surrounding UFC XII in February 1997. “It was scheduled for Niagara, New York and because of all the political and media opposition the New York State Athletic Commission pulled the show the day before at 2:30pm. We had about 28 hours to find a new location and move an entire production all the way down to Dothan, Alabama. That was pretty unique”.
McCarthy’s duties extended beyond simply refereeing. “I did a lot of consultation back then. I’d be advising [former UFC owner] Bob Meyrowitz and trying to talk to a lot of other people, athletic commissions, the people who ran Indian Reservations I was testifying in court all the time. Whenever something happened with the rules, I was there and involved in that. Adding rounds, changing rules, I’d be involved in that”.
One of the more ridiculous episodes revolved around the May 1996 UFC IX in Detroit. Meyrowitz and his company SEG argued their case in court. “That was incredible. The judge watched some UFC tapes and he noted the only similarity between that and prize fighting, the only basis he could stop the show on, was that it was illegal prize fighting so he said the show could go ahead if there were no punches and no headbutts. Bob had no choice but to agree. That was a comedy of errors”. It certainly was. Especially when every fighter on the show blatantly ignored the ‘no punches’ mandate anyway.
When asked how he got involved with the UFC in the first place, McCarthy explained, “I’d heard about Rorion Gracie [promoter of the first few UFC events] through a friend who did judo. I’d wrestled and done some judo and went to Rorion’s place to learn from him. I ended up training with the family and was a sparring partner for Royce”.
People may not realise that McCarthy almost fought in the early UFC’s himself. “Oh yeah. I filled out the application form they put in Black Belt magazine. That’s how people got in back then.
But Rorion wouldn’t put me in there. He said it was Royce’s time and when that was over I’d be free to fight. Then I got into refereeing because Rorion wasn’t happy with the standard of referees in the first show. When Bob Meyrowitz took over and Royce had left I asked again about fighting but Bob said they needed me as a referee. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t fight. I’d have gotten my butt kicked!”
Today, McCarthy still has an important role outside the Octagon. Talking to athletic commissions and delivering training seminars for referees, his goal is to “get everybody working along the same lines. Good refereeing is so important. The standard is definitely going up but I still get really mad at people who come from another sport and think they can just walk right in and do this. If you don’t understand what you’re doing you’re a liability to the fighters, to the fans and to the promotions.
“I had to learn things on the run and absolutely, I’ve made mistakes. I’m human. I just try not to make those mistakes again. Things like Sakuraba and Conan Silveira and Lindland-Bustamante [two matches in which John stopped the fights prematurely in error]. There’s no way to completely avoid the mistakes, you’re gonna make them, it’s the human factor and just a part of the sport. You learn from it”.
Talk of human error inevitably led into a discussion about the New York State Athletic Commission’s proposals for using instant replay in MMA. McCarthy noted, “It sounds great but only if you’re gonna do it to pick up a foul or something like that. Not to determine stand-ups or something else where you really can’t go back and fix it”.
While known mostly for his UFC work, John has been working in law enforcement for many years. “I’ve been with the LAPD for 22 years now, and I teach all the fun stuff, the high risk things like how to handle people, doing high risk searches.” He also runs his own gym and referees for other promotions. Retaining a fan’s enthusiasm after so many years in the sport, McCarthy talks up the now Zuffa-owned World Extreme Cagefighting. “It’s a good promotion and they’re showcasing the lighter weights. I love the lighter weight fighters. They’re awesome to watch”.
