“Big” John McCarthy has been informed by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) that his first assignment since his announcement to return to active duty will be at Strikeforce: “Destruction,” which is set for the HP Pavillion in San Jose, Calif., on November 21.
McCarthy — perhaps the most recognized and respected referee in the history of mixed martial arts — left the sport less than one year ago to work in the announcer’s booth for The Fight Network. He also did the color commentary for Affliction’s inaugural event in July.
Here’s what he had to say about leaving the booth for a return to refereeing via Sherdog.com:
“I missed doing it. Sometimes when you walk away from something and you think it’s time, once you’re away you realize what you’re missing –- it’s kind of like why guys come back to fighting. It’s what I like doing. It’s what I was meant to do.”
“Big” John was a staple in the UFC from the early days all the way through until last December. He currently has 535 career matches under his belt.
His return to the Octagon, however, will be out of his control. The athletic commission will determine when and where he is assigned work. But, with his resume and reputation it shouldn’t be long before he’s back in the big show officiating main events.
As far as the Strikeforce: “Destruction” event he’s been assigned to first, company lightweight champion Josh “The Punk” Thomson will defend his title in the main event against Yves Edwards. And Bobby Southworth and Babalu Sobral will duke it out for Southworth’s 205-pound belt in the co-featured fight of the night.
Perhaps McCarthy will get the call in either one of those important bouts.
25 Comments »
Let’s get it on!!
This is excellent news for the sport and for the UFC. HOpefully Big JOhn referees the Nog/mir fight in december. I would hate to see Mir get more referee assistance like he did against Lesnar!
Look forward to thearing the infamous words: “Lets get it on”!
I don’t know how the UFC will welcome him? He has a contract with affliction and has been having back and forth words with Dana White for some time now! I can actually see Dana saying he doesn’t want John per conflict of interest. I would disagree with this assessment 100%, but you never know! This isn’t small time, one “jaded” call could cost the company millions!
Does Dana have the option of not allowing Big JOhn to referee a UFC event? My understanding was, the Athletic commission is in sole control over who ref’s which fights. Can Dana keep Big John away from the UFC? I always thought it was up to Athletic commission, and if it is, we will see him back in the UFC.
Keep in mind that Big John has broken his relationships with Affliction and the fight network so I dont believe he has any allegiance to any other companies at the present moment.
Please Correct me if I am wrong.
you’re right, but if Brock can request to not have a ref, my guess is the president of a company can say no thanks to a ref. This is opinion, maybe mania has a better understanding!
I don’t believe a conflict exists in this scenario. He would have nothing to gain personally from either fighter winning.
i agree DJ, but what does the ufc think. hey, this is great, conversation/comments going smoothly today, huh guys
JOHN. the athletic commissions have the final say on who does and who does’nt ref each event and each fight, but i wouldnt be surprised if the ufc has alot pull as to say who does or who doesnt ref for them. i can see them claiming him to be hostile and having a conflict of interest even though i think he’s still the best and would do his usual great job of reffing if he did come back to the ufc.
I agree BW, he would do a great job, but did work for and get sponsored by the “competition.” I think it will be ok, I just like to mention all possibilities!
Fightlinker had an article on the potential problems Big John might have coming back to reffing, at least in Nevada.
http://www.fightlinker.com/?p=3476
Basically FL is saying there are two potential issues; with one being that McCarthy owns a gym, so he couldn’t ref fights for those guys (pretty understandable) and the second being critical comments he made about Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Keith Kizer. The article above includes a link to the comments as well.
I think you’re on the money with that one b.w. It would surprise me a lot if the UFC did anything of the sort though, because they know he’s the best referee out there. Besides, with all the controversy that some questionable officiating has caused, they need the best ref’s they can find. In the last couple of events I’ve been seeing ref’s I’ve never seen before and you can certainly feel the difference. Ex. - The ref that Joe Rogan called out for constantly telling the fighters to work during the Maynard-Clementi fight. Sure it was a boring fight, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t working.
I agree, that ref sucked. I agree with Rogan that fights shouldn’t be stood up. I watched Bisping/schaffer last night, and Bisping/Hamill is another example of a fighter that works to get back to his feet! If a fighter is laying on a guy for the win, he won’t be around for long, but it’s mma, and I see UFC turning into kickboxing too much. BJJ is getting lost with these newer refs!
GREGC . agreed, the reffing of late has become very questionable. maybee a simple apology from bjm is all it would take. i think he got a little too big-headed and thought he tried going beyond his boundries(imo), when he should have stuck with what he was best at-reffing.
On a somewhat related topic, I have been watching UFC 1-10 (as I had, inconceivably, never seen those events - I’m on 8 right now), and I must say it sure is cool to see Big John officiating those early UFCs. Oh and Marco Ruas is a friggin’ animal. Those leg kicks on Varelens in the UFC 7 finale were ridiculous. He was definitely the first all around fighter to appear in the UFC. Totally awesome. UFC 6 is definitely worth checking out as well (I loves me some early Tank Abbot). And Ken Shamrock was brutally boring in those early shows (hopefully his “superfight” in 8 against Kimo is a good fight).
Oh, and do any of you UFC hardcores know where I can get a copy of “Ultimate Ultimate” that was apparently sadnwiched between UFC 7 & 8, as it is oddly not included in the 1-10 set?
Canuckle: Good luck trying to get Ultimate Ultimate. I have been trying to get events like that one for year. Take it from me, you will NOT find it on DVD in the USA. Best bet is to hope that there is a VHS copy of it for sale on e-bay or something, but its pretty rare. If you ever do Find it, please let me know
This was a damn good conversation today boys. Very informative. We seemed to cover all the bases.
In the end, hope to see Big John back in the Octagon where he belongs.
CANUCKLHEAD. that was a good link to the whole bjm/ufc contrversy. thats exactly what i was referring to.
Thanks b.w., I should have remembered that comments containing links seem disappear into “moderation limbo” for a while, and just posted the info first (not that I’m bitching Mania, you guys like to keep it clean here at MMAMania and I respect that. I mean, if I really need to swear in my comments I can always head over to Cagepotato for some comment anarchy)
And thanks john for the info on Ultimate Ultimate, being a bit of a “complete-ist” myself, that kinda bugs me. I’ll let you know if I find anything but, that said, if you (the guy who broke Lesnar v. Couture) haven’t been able to find it, I don’t like my chances.
We all knew he would be back. Was just a matter of time.
Good to hear hope its not too long until hes back in the ufc then!! We coulde doing with a top ref!
Great news- U gotta love Big John!
Nice… Hopefully they promote John to UFC main events and demote Mazagatti to back yard brawls at Kimbo’s house.
LMAO, I would sign that petition for sure!
I love how he said he missed this or that, funny when your job ends you suddenly miss what use to pay you well…
suprise suprise