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UFC on Fox 2: Three Main Card Bouts, Each with Major Title Implications

This is where the real fun begins. For those of you who weren’t all that satisfied with the UFC’s first foray onto network television in November, you will be hard-pressed to find anything to complain about when it comes to UFC on Fox 2: Ra…

Think of the Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos bout as the UFC and Fox giving fans a treat and an opportunity for them to used to one another. The excitement leading up to November 12 was crazy and the feeling in the Honda Center that night was completely electric.

No matter how big of a fan you were, you knew history was being made.

Now that the UFC and Fox have gotten their feet wet, they are set to explode with Evans vs. Davis next month. As of right now, there have been a total of 10 bouts announced. The top three will be televised on the Fox network, with the balance shown on Fox’s sister network, Fuel TV.

All three main card bouts have some sort of title implications. The night will not only offer some great matchups, but will hopefully clear up who will face the UFC’s light-heavyweight champion and middleweight champion. I say “hopefully” because, as we all have come to understand far too well, the fights that are supposed to answer questions can sometimes create more confusion.

Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis

In the main event, we have former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans facing the undefeated, four-time Division I All-American from Penn State, “Mr. Wonderful” Phil Davis.

Evans has had his share of trials and tribulations over the past year. Those began with a knee injury that forced him to pull out of his UFC 128 contest with then light-heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.

We all know what happened next: Suga’s Team Jackson teammate Jon Jones stepped in and defeated Rua pretty handily. Jones has gone on to defend the title on two occasions.

After defeating Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, the UFC brought Evans into the cage to promote the bout between Evans and Jones. Injuries to both men put a halt to those contests.

Evans has since gone on to defeat Tito Ortiz at UFC 133 in August. With a win over Davis, he should be next in line to face Jones. But this is the UFC and nothing is ever that easy.

Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Dan Henderson returned to the organization for the third time. With a stunning, and thrilling, victory over the aforementioned Rua, Henderson may have positioned himself for a shot at Jones and the UFC’s 205-lb title.

As far as Davis is concerned, a win over Evans would be very impressive. Would it be enough to catapult him straight into the No. 1 contenders’ slot? More than likely the answer would be no—unless Henderson is unable to slide into the spot opposite Jones, a man 17 years his junior.

Chael Sonnen vs. Mar Munoz

If that isn’t enough, the next two bouts could determine the next two challengers for the UFC’s middleweight championship title, currently held by Anderson “Spider” Silva.

Collegiate wrestler’s former No. 1 contender, and resident bad boy, Chael Sonnen will face off against the hard-hitting Mar Munoz. Sonnen took Silva to the limit at UFC 117 in August of 2010. He dominated Spider for 23 minutes before getting caught in the Hail Mary of triangle chokes with just 110 seconds left in the bout.

Sonnen was suspended for elevated testosterone levels. He returned at UFC 136 this past October and defeated the always tough Brian Stann via arm triangle in the second round. It was assumed he would face Silva in a rematch. Then Silva sustained an injury which will keep him out for some time. Sonnen chose to face Munoz, who has been on quite a tear himself.

“The Filipino Wrecking Machine” has won four straight. He beat Aaron Simpson, C.B. Dollaway, former middleweight title contender Demian Maia and Chris Leben. He is making a serious run at Silva’s title and a win over Sonnen will only strengthen his case. As he closes in on 34 years old, the time is now for Munoz. No one knows that more than he does.

Michael Bisping vs. Maia

Last, but certainly not least, we have everyone’s favorite British fighter Michael Bisping taking on Maia.

“The Count” recently completed his second tour of duty as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter. This time, his adversary was Jason “Mayhem” Miller. The pair met in the main event of The Ultimate Fighter finale on December 3. Bisping took it to Miller, earned a dominating third-round TKO and capturing his fourth win in a row.

As the face of British MMA, Bisping has become one of the most hated men in all of mixed martial arts. Most fans would love nothing more than to see Spider Silva batter and beat Bisping to a pulp. A win over Maia would position him right behind the winner of Sonnen-Munoz. If that man—whoever it should be—gets injured, then Bisping could step in and face Silva sometime this summer.

Maia is the least likely fighter to get another crack at Silva. The two met at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi back in April of last year. That was literally the straw that broke the camel’s back (no pun intended) for UFC president Dana White. After watching Silva mock and embarrass Maia for five rounds, White gave the title to Silva’s manager Ed Soares and refused to wrap it around the champion’s waist, which has become customary since Zuffa took over the UFC.

It was very apparent that Maia was not on Silva’s level. I can’t imagine anyone clamoring to see the two of them meet inside the octagon any time soon.

Maia has gone 3-1 since that loss, with all four bouts going to the judge’s scorecards. He has seemingly lost the killer instinct that he brought with him to the UFC. That instinct helped earn him four Submission of the Night bonuses in his first five fights with the organization.

Nevertheless, an impressive win over Bisping—coupled with either Sonnen or Munoz wrestling away the middleweight championship from Silva—could put Maia once again on the precipice of a title shot. Maia and Munoz have met before, with Munoz winning by decision.

It’s a lot of what if’s and some highly unlikely scenarios. Maia will provide Bisping with a stiff test. Should Bisping be successful, there can be no debate on whether or not Bisping’s name should be included with the division’s top contenders.

All of this and we haven’t gone over the undercard—but that’s a different story for a different day. For now, sit back and think just how entertaining these three bouts will be. The best part of it all is that they will be televised on national television at no cost to the fans.

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Ovince St. Preux: At the End of the Day My Hand Will Be the One That Gets Raised

Come this Saturday night, life as Ovince St. Preux knows it is about to change.Although it won’t be his first time on Showtime fighting for Strikeforce, this will be the biggest bout of his career, as he will be taking on former Strikeforce light…

Come this Saturday night, life as Ovince St. Preux knows it is about to change.

Although it won’t be his first time on Showtime fighting for Strikeforce, this will be the biggest bout of his career, as he will be taking on former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi.

With Dan Henderson vacating the title when he returned to the UFC, this matchup could boost the winner toward a title shot, especially now that Strikeforce seems to be sticking around for the time being. Mousasi offers up a set of skills and the type of experience that St. Preux has yet to see in his three-year-old career.

OSP, as he has been affectionately called, doesn’t seem fazed by Mousasi’s list of victims or the fact that he has held titles not only in Strikeforce, but Dream as well. All St. Preux is concerned with is the man that stands in front of him when that cage door shuts and the bell sounds signaling the beginning of the fight. In his mind anyone can be beaten on any given night and he plans on showing the world he has the skills to beat the former champion.

As St. Preux prepares for Mousasi he will continue to train at his home camp of the Knoxville Martial Arts Academy where he has been since the beginning. His loyalty to his trainers and sparring partners is to be commended, but this time around he realizes how important this shot is and he brought in a good friend of his to help him prepare for Mousasi.

“My head trainer here is Eric Turner and another one of my trainers is Joey Zonar and I’ve been with them since day one,” St. Preux told Bleacher Report. “We also brought in a good friend of mine Virgil Zwicker to help me with my stand-up. Virgil came up from Temecula, Calif., where he trains with Team Quest. His stand-up is real good and the sparring has been very beneficial to me.”

OSP hasn’t lost since September of 2009. He has won all eight of his fights since that time and during that time he has beaten former UFC middleweight Jason Day, Antwain Britt, Benji Radach and Abongo Humphrey. While his level of competition has grown so too have his skills and his ability to deal with the pressure of fighting in front of bigger audiences and on national television.

“I have matured physically and mentally,” OSP said. “My strength and conditioning coach has helped me out with my cardio. When I first started off it was difficult because I needed to be pushed and all of my coaches have done that for me. They can give me that extra shove that I couldn’t give myself. One of the guys I train with who has been a big help is Rafaello Oliveira who will be fighting on Jan. 20 for the UFC. These guys help keep me levelheaded and on the right path.”

There has been a lot of speculation surrounding the future of Strikeforce, but UFC President Dana White seems to have come to an agreement with Showtime seemingly breathing new life into the San Jose based organization. While that may have disappointed some of the fighters on their roster, St. Preux seems to be happy just where he is.

“I just signed a new deal with Strikeforce so I have no plans on going anywhere else,” explained St. Preux. “I leave all of the behind the scenes stuff to my management. I just want to concentrate on training. As long as I perform well I’ll wind up in a pretty good situation. There is so much speculation right now when my manager feels I need to know something he tells me.”

At 28 years old, St. Preux is just reaching his physical peak. To some he is just a baby in the sport, but as long as he keeps getting big fights none of that will continue to matter. Any fighter worth their salt gets into this business to win championships and compete against the best fighters in the world. For OSP these words couldn’t ring any truer.

“My short term goal is to win this fight,” St, Preux offered. “With Gegard being in the top 10 in the world a win here would put me in a very good situation. He’s a tough guy to beat and I am constantly telling myself that he has been in the trenches and I relish the role of being the underdog. I know with every one of my fights I feel as though I am getting better and better and adding more tools to my arsenal.

“Everyone’s long term goal is the same as my long term goal and that is to be a champion. Everyone wants to be the champ and I want to be able to bring the belt back to Knoxville, TN where I am training right now. To be honest I want to beat the best in the world and Gegard is one of them. If I beat him it’ll definitely put me in the top five for the light heavyweight title.”

If you look at St. Preux’s Wikipedia page it has his style listed as wrestling and kickboxing. Some fighters forge their style from a very young age and add pieces of other fighters along their way. Other fighters choose to ignore what other combatants do and develop a style all their own. St. Preux likes to think he is somewhere in the middle.

“Once you come down to it it’s going to be your own style,” said St. Preux matter-of-factly. “I’m taking little things from here and little things from there. I’ve been down at Team Quest working with Hendo and he has shown me a couple of tricks. I also went down to train with Grudge and Trevor Wittman showed me some stuff, but when it comes down to it all of the outside influences get incorporated into your own style.

“My biggest strengths are that I am well rounded in kickboxing, wrestling and jiu-jitsu. I believe my athleticism gets me out of a lot of trouble. Being an athlete all of my life it helps out a lot. When I played football it caused me to be quick on my feet and to be a quick thinker. Football is all about discipline and patience and I use all of that today in MMA.”

I’ve heard a lot about visualization from all different types of fighters. Some of them go as far as to go into the cage and imagine the arena full of fans and they actually see the fight taking place. They can see themselves in certain situations both positive and negative. But does this really help when the real fight begins?

“I put myself in every scenario possible,” offered OSP. “I put myself in bad situations and try to see myself getting out of them. Every scenario I put myself in never seems to happen and I am talking about over 1000 different possibilities. I don’t know how and I couldn’t even tell you how this fight is going to go, but I can tell you this, at the end of the day my hand will be the one that gets raised.”

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Dan Miller: His Son, Daniel Jr. Is a 2-Year Old Boy and He Needs Your Help

UFC Middleweight Dan Miller needs our help.I thought long and hard about how I was going to write this story and at the end of the day I thought it best if I just kept it simple.While most of us carry the pressures of paying bills, performing well at o…

UFC Middleweight Dan Miller needs our help.

I thought long and hard about how I was going to write this story and at the end of the day I thought it best if I just kept it simple.

While most of us carry the pressures of paying bills, performing well at our jobs and keeping our kids safe and healthy, Miller has all of those every day issues on top of raising a nearly two-year-old son who has a disease most of us have never heard of.

Dan Miller and his wife Kristin will celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary this Friday, December 2, just one day before a Super Seminar will be held at AMA Fight Club to raise money for their son Daniel Jr., who is just under two years old. The Millers have had a rough go of it when it comes to their children as they lost a daughter one day after she was born on March 19, 2009.

Daniel Miller Junior was diagnosed with Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease while his mother underwent her 28th-week ultrasound.

During the examination the doctors noticed there was a cyst on his kidney. During the next ultrasound it was determined that the other kidney had a cyst on it as well. At the time the doctors prepared the Millers for the worst-case scenario, which unfortunately is how things have turned out thus far.

PKD is a genetic disease that at first affects the kidneys and later on can move on to the liver as well. The kidneys develop multiple cysts in groups and eventually will inhibit the kidney function. Daniel Jr’s kidneys are about three to four times the normal size for a child his age. According to the United States Library of Medicine, PKD affects nearly 1 in 1,000 Americans.

Life for Daniel Jr. consists of a lot of medicine, shots and doctors visits. He was implanted with a G Tube because when his kidneys were in they were too large and he couldn’t eat as much as a child his age should. His diet was full of protein, fat and a lot of calories. Now that he no longer is fed through the tube, he eats like crazy.

During the summer DJ received 17 hours of dialysis every night. At the present time he is closer to 12 hours. Depending on how he reacts to the dialysis, he wakes up and plays like a normal kid. He loves his six-month old sister, animals and is a big fan of karate. He has his blood taken once a week and has grown so accustomed to the lab techs that as soon as they are done he is smiling and waving at them. At two years old he is a lot tougher than most grown men I know.

Daniel Jr. comes from a family of fighters as both his dad and his Uncle Jim are both in the UFC. In fact, it seems as though Daniel Jr. has begun to recognize his dad when he sees him inside the Octagon on television. Kristin told Dan that their son got excited and was pointing at the television when he saw him. He also recognizes Uncle Jim as well.

The family spends a lot of time together as a family. Whether they are playing with his toys or he is hanging out with his dad, mom and baby sister, Daniel Jr. loves to play, just like any other two-year old little boy. Daniel Jr. loves the family’s two dogs and cats. He also loves his grandparents’ three dogs; he will sit there and watch them intently with a smile on his face.

For all Daniel Jr. goes through on a daily basis he is an extremely happy child and that is a testament to Dan and Kristin, who foster a fun and loving family environment.

While little Daniel’s operation is covered, his great aunt Kathy, who is donating her kidney, will not have her procedure covered by her insurance. On top of the cost of the procedure for his aunt, Daniel Jr. will have to take anti-rejection medicine once the operation is completed. At this time there is no exact figure on the cost of the meds, but the estimate is in the ballpark of $7,500-10,000 per month.

The doctors have told the Millers that it could take a day or two for the new kidney to begin working. If all goes well Daniel Jr. can expect to be home in two weeks. The doctors will be constantly monitoring Daniel Jr, drawing his blood and making sure he is able to go to the bathroom without any complications.

Daniel Jr. will have to take the anti-rejection medication for the rest of his life. Insurance will only pay for three years of that medication, forcing the Millers to pick up the cost. Once Daniel Jr. is old enough and has insurance of his own he will be responsible for the costs associated with the medication.

Even though the amount of money is a lot to consider, the idea of Daniel Jr. being old enough to cover the costs himself brings great pleasure to those who love him. Success brings a great price at times and in this case it is well worth every penny.

So now that you’ve had an opportunity to understand what Daniel Jr. goes through and what he has to look forward to, we can get to the heart of the matter. Operations and medications are expensive as I have explained earlier. With the help of some very caring people who know the Millers we are being given an opportunity to do our small part.

Mike Constantino is the Miller Brothers coach at AMA and is the one who set up the Daniel James Miller Foundation. The goal is to raise $100,000 to help the Millers offset some of the medical costs associated with a kidney transplant operation. On Saturday, December 3 there will be a super seminar held at AMA Fight Club. For those of you who want to help as well as meet some terrific people this is your opportunity.

Just to show you how humble Dan and his wife Kristen are they were not on board with the seminar. Constantino and Jim set things in motion therefore giving Dan no chance to say no.

The morning will begin at 9:45 AM with a welcome and introduction. Along with Dan and Jim Miller, UFC middleweight Chris Weidman, UFC welterweight Charlie Brenneman and Ultimate Fighter alum Andy Main will be in attendance. From 10-12, there will be a no-gi MMA/BJJ/wrestling seminar run by Jim and he will be assisted by the other fighters in attendance. If you choose to attend the grappling-only portion of the seminar the cost will be $100.

From 12-1 lunch will be served with the food provided by the Miller Family. At this time there will also be a meet and greet. Those in attendance can expect to be fed very well and are encouraged to bring cameras so they can take photos with the fighters.

From 1-3 AMA’s head Muay Thai instructor and Muay Thai champion Kaensek Sor Ploenjit will teach many of the sports’ techniques. He will be assisted by the other fighters in attendance. For those of you who just want to attend the striking-only portion of the seminar, the cost will be $100.

If you decide to spend the whole day the cost will be $175. When you think about the experience that is being offered and how important your donation will be, it seems like very little. It’s not every day you get to train and eat with UFC fighters for over five hours. It’s also not every day that you can make a huge difference in someone’s life like you can this coming Saturday.

There will also be raffles and prizes made available. Some of the prizes you could bring home are the shorts Jim wore in his UFC debut against David Baron at UFC 89. Jim took home the “Submission of the Night” bonus that evening. Other memorabilia being offered are shirts, gloves, trunks and memberships at AMA Fight Club. If you are not able to attend you can always make a monetary donation by visiting this website.

A lot of us tend to take the health of our children for granted. It doesn’t make you a bad person; it’s human nature. For me, I know from my own experiences that without the help of some very talented doctors and the donations made by total strangers I would not be here today.

I was born in 1974 with a congenital heart disorder; I had closed heart surgery when I was just three weeks old. I was one of the first infants to have a heart operation–it simply was too risky back then. After more surgery and the implantation of a pacemaker at the age of three, I stand here today.

I am also the father of two beautiful children and thank God every day that they are healthy. I realize just how lucky my wife and I are and I will never take their health for granted. As long as I am alive I will be grateful and I will do whatever I can to help those who are in need.

If you have any questions or need assistance please do not hesitate to contact me. You can email me at [email protected] or hit me up on Twitter, my username is @BryanLevick.

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UFC 139 Rua vs. Henderson: No Rematch Is Needed When Both Men Are Winners

Some have Dan Henderson as the winner. Others say Rua should have gotten the nod. The majority of fans and pundits say the fight was a draw. They saw Henderson winning rounds 1-3 and Rua capturing the last two rounds, with round five a dominant 10-8 sc…

Before we get into who is wrong or who is right, let me begin by saying that this fight couldn’t have happened at a better time in both men’s careers.

At 41 years young, it seems as though Henderson has developed a strong second wind on a career that is already headed to the Hall of Fame. He has won his past four fights against pretty tough competition and looked good doing so.

Shogun seems to have bounced back from a devastating loss to current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones as well as some debilitating knee injuries that threatened to derail his once-mighty career. While his win over an uninspired Forrest Griffin at UFC 134 in Brazil was less than impressive, his performance against Henderson this past Saturday night clearly showed he still has the skill and more importantly the heart to remain competitive.

Getting back to the scoring of Saturday night’s main event: To be honest with you, it could have gone any of the three ways described above, and no one would be worse for wear. What both men did inside that Octagon is the stuff legends are made of and will never be forgotten by mixed martial arts fans as long as the sport is around. Henderson and Rua not only are supremely talented athletes, but are truly men motivated to put on performances like the one they put on at UFC 139.

If I was a trainer and had an up-and-coming fighter who was maybe lacking that something that wasn’t physical—whether it was his heart that was in question, or maybe the intestinal fortitude that is so very necessary to have in such a grueling sport—I would sit him down and make him watch Henderson-Rua over and over again.

This fight was more about heart and a will to win than it was about sheer physical talent. A fighter could have all the quickness, strength and athletic ability in the world, but without heart they have nothing.

Rua should walk away from this fight feeling as much a winner as Henderson. Maybe Henderson will enjoy the fruits of the victory by obtaining a title shot, but Rua should not and will not be slighted just because he has an “L” in the record books. Shogun fought back from adversity when all thought he was finished and almost managed to finish Henderson. There is no shame in the performance he displayed.

As far as a rematch is concerned, why tarnish what is considered one of the greatest fights of all time? There is no way they could possibly repeat the magic that we witnessed inside the Octagon in San Jose.

Take a look at the Urijah Faber-Jens Pulver bout from WEC 34 in June of 2008. Those two put on one hell of a fight, each man giving it their all for five rounds. They would meet again just six months later, and Faber won by choke in the first round. It was hard to watch after seeing the war the two had put on just a short time before.

That’s not to say that either Henderson or Rua would dominate the other should they meet again, but wouldn’t it be fairer to the fans and both fighters to remember the history that was made rather than trying to repeat something that was a once in a lifetime event?

Maybe somewhere down the line the two will meet again, Shogun is a former champion and Henderson seems to have earned a title shot. Who knows what could happen, but now is neither the time nor the place for these two warriors to do battle once again.

It’ll take a long time for their fight to really soak in, and it’ll be fun to reflect back on it whenever we feel the need. Why tarnish those memories when we should just sit back and enjoy them?

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"Big" John McCarthy Discusses Liddell, Couture, Tito & Regrets

If you missed part I of my interview with “Big” John, you can catch it by clicking here. Watching the fight on the outside is so much different from being inside the Octagon. McCarthy, as big a fan as he is, knew he was there to keep the fighters …

If you missed part I of my interview with “Big” John, you can catch it by clicking here.

Watching the fight on the outside is so much different from being inside the Octagon. McCarthy, as big a fan as he is, knew he was there to keep the fighters safe and ensure a fair fight.

With that being said, when the opportunities arose to kick off his shoes and watch a fight as fan, there were some other fighters who caught his eye along the way.

“What a fan is watching is completely different than what the referee is seeing,” McCarthy explained. “It’s totally different, the referee’s job first and foremost is the safety of the fighters. A lot of times people want to see a great, back and forth fight, and that’s great when it happens, but a referee is to get a guy out of a problem before bad things happen.

“I don’t look at fighters, per se, as who they are and things like that. I like all of the fighters, every fighter I’ve dealt with I like them. There are certain guys who you give credit to as far as what they have done for the sport. When you look at a guy like Chuck Liddell and what he accomplished, how he helped build the sport, I really respect Chuck for that.

“Couture is a phenomenal spokesman for the sport. When everyone was bashing the sport he went out and in a very educated manner, he would make people realize the fights weren’t about anger. They are about competition, nothing but competition. Royce Gracie was a guy who started it, because of how he was built and the doubt people had that he could defeat these larger men, he proved there is technique in MMA.

“Frank Shamrock is a guy I watched grow from a kid, when I first met him he was very immature and juvenile. He is so complete and such a good guy now, he was a great fighter, but an even better person. I think back to his fight with Tito and he knew he had his hands full, but he found Tito’s weakness and capitalized on it. He knew Tito got tired and he pushed him.

“When there was 30 seconds left in each round, Maurice Smith would tell him from his corner, Frank there’s 30 seconds left. It was at that point he would turn it on and make Tito work. He got Tito’s heart rate up at the end of the round. He knew he was better conditioned and that’s how he won that fight.”

Unfortunately life deals us all some peaks and valleys; not everything can go according to plan. Some of us make decisions that we wish we could take back immediately and others don’t realize the mistakes we have made until it’s too late.

McCarthy is just as human as the rest of us and while he seems to have a great outlook on all aspects of life, he too has has some regrets along the way.

“I have some regrets, that’s for sure, I regret all kinds of things,” McCarthy readily admitted. “There are fights where I think I made mistakes and regret what I did, but I’m honest about it and I would never try and cover anything up. I made a mistake, here’s where I made the mistake and I know why I made it. The best thing you can do is work at it so it doesn’t happen again. There are times when I made decisions when I wish I could have gone the other way.

“You just don’t know at the time, hindsight is 20/20 and you don’t realize it at that moment. You look and think that it’s the best thing you could do and you go with it. Whether it’s being a referee or in my personal life, I’ve made mistakes. I try and figure out why I made that particular mistake and try and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“No one likes to admit they have weaknesses, but its part of being a human; it’s what life is about. What says a lot about you is what you do after you’ve made the mistake, it shows who you are and what you do. The problem is when you make excuses or try and cover it up. When you look in the mirror you know you did something wrong, be honest about it and move on.”

Dana White likes to believe that Herb Dean is the best referee working today. That may or not be tied to the decision McCarthy made to retire back in 2007 and take a job as an analyst with the Fight Network. White was not happy about some comments McCarthy made about the UFC and never hid his displeasure.

At the end of the day, McCarthy is the most respected official in the sport and wants to help educate referees and the sport’s judges.

“What I do now is work with officials, anything I can do to help them or set up a system where the officials have to reach a certain level of knowledge and competency is important to me,” stated McCarthy. “It’s more important to the safety of the fighters. I would be more than happy to be part of anything that would help educate the officials and judges protect the fighters and the integrity of the sport.”

McCarthy just turned 49 on October 12 and takes very good care of himself. With the love he has for the sport, we can only hope he plans on staying around for a long time.

After all the lessons he has learned, he knows life is still full of surprises and is grateful for what he has done and what lies in store for the future.

“I walked away in 2007 to do other stuff and I left what I love doing,” McCarthy mentioned. “We spoke about regrets and work is not work when you love what you are doing. That’s what life is about. There are things we like to do and things we don’t like to do, but when you have a job that you love to do it makes life fun. When I am going to quit? I can honestly say I am never going to leave MMA. I’ll stop refereeing when I stop making good decisions or I’m not reacting fast enough. I’ll know when it’s time to go. I can start judging more or do something else, but I’ll always be part of MMA.

“As you get older you learn things, I look back and my life was completely changed by BJJ. I ended up going in a complete different direction than I ever thought I would go in and that’s because of Helio Gracie and BJJ. I was lucky enough to be able to train and roll with Helio. At the time he was an older man and I was always afraid I was going to hurt him, but he would always choke the hell out of me.

“I can think back and remember rolling with Helio and that’s what is important in life. It’s not the money or the things you accumulate, it’s what you do with your life and how you interact with other people. That’s why Helio was so special, look at how many lives he affected. He was an incredible human being. Those were great experiences and that’s what makes life special.”

Bryan Levick is a Featured Columnist for Fighters Magazine and Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @BryanLevick

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"Big" John McCarthy on the Beginning of the UFC, Helio Gracie & His Start in MMA

When the UFC makes its network television debut on Saturday night, there will be a very familiar face taking his rightful spot inside the Octagon. No, it’s not UFC President Dana White nor is it UFC Heavyweight Champion Cain Velasquez or challeng…

The man that has become just as recognizable and almost as popular as any mixed martial artist to have ever fought in the UFC is referee “Big” John McCarthy. Known for his trademark, “Let’s Get it On,” call that he bellows before the beginning of every fight he officiates, McCarthy was chosen by the California State Athletic Commission to act as the third man in the most important fight in the organizations history.

Ever since his career as a referee begun back in 1993, McCarthy has been witness to some of the most grueling, competitive and important fights the sport has ever seen. So it was only natural that he got the call to work the bout from the Honda Center in Anaheim, CA. His popularity has transcended throughout the lean years of the sport and remains clearly evident as the sport has grown.

It comes as no surprise to many that his name conjures up emotions from many of the hardcore fans who remember McCarthy just as well they remember any fighter who has stepped inside the cage over the years. He routinely receives just as loud if not louder ovations the very fighters he is in charge of. Ask anyone familiar with McCarthy and they will tell you it is well deserved.

McCarthy along with Loretta Hunt put together a book based upon his experiences inside and outside of the Octagon. Appropriately entitled, “Let’s Get It On- The Making of MMA and its Ultimate Referee,” was released on September 1^st and is a must read for any mixed martial arts fan, especially the newer ones who are interested in learning about the early days of the UFC.

“The book starts off with how I grew up and how I went into certain directions,” McCarthy told Bleacher Report. “There are a few chapters on my life, the LAPD, how I got involved with Rorion Gracie and how MMA began. How the Gracies tried to integrate their teachings from Brazil into the US.

Then it goes into the making of the UFC, how and why things came together as they did. A lot of it was done to give credit to people who have done a lot to bring the sport to where it is. It wasn’t written to thank anyone for anything they did for me in particular. You have two types of MMA fans, the newer fans brought along on The Ultimate Fighter and the old die hard guys who have been there from the very beginning.

Those guys have a pretty good idea of how and who were instrumental in putting this thing together. They may not know how Art Davie and Bob Meyrowitz were involved other than Meyrowitz sold the company to Zuffa. They aren’t familiar with Jeff Blatnick, who was an Olympic Gold Medalist in Greco Roman Wrestling, and how he lent credibility to the sport.

Here was a guy who went up against the naysayers and said this sport isn’t bad, it’s good. It’s full of great athletes. He never got credit for that or how he helped implement certain rules and the current judging system. It’s not the Medias fault, but everyone gives credit to Dana White, but he’s not the guy who came up with it. He’s done a great job promoting the sport, but long before Dana knew what the sport was there were guys working hard to make this work and they deserve credit.

Loretta Hunt wanted me to write this book for awhile about the history and why things happened and I kept telling her no. Finally she said there are too many people who have been passed by and no one will ever know about their contributions until someone talks about it. For those reasons alone, it was worth it to write the book.”

Long before he was working inside the cage as a referee, McCarthy was a Los Angeles Police Officer who was chosen by the brass to try and come up with a better way to subdue assailants other than the use of batons. Little did he know just how far that training would take him and how much different his life would become.

“The way that I met Rorion Gracie was because of the LA riots that occurred after the Rodney King ruling,” explained McCarthy. “The LAPD wanted to teach officers a better way to control someone other than using the baton because it’s pretty stupid that the only option an officer has it to hit someone with a steel pipe. It’s not a good idea, so they put together a Martial Arts Review Committee made up of a lot of great martial artists from Southern California.

I happened to be one of the officers on the committee and was introduced to Gracie. I began working out with him and he and Art Davy were putting together a show called War of the Worlds. Art had gotten a gentleman by the name of Campbell McClaren to buy into the idea. McClaren was part of Semaphore Entertainment Group. Bob Meyrowitz put some money down and they changed the name to The Ultimate Fighting Championships.

As a police officer my job was to teach other cops the curriculum the department came up with to subdue suspects. They needed to have a set of rules in place so if someone went to trial they prosecutors could show that the officers stayed within the guidelines taught to them. The reason I got into MMA was because of the police department.”

McCarthy has seen it all take place inside the Octagon. He has officiated thousands of bouts and countless championship fights. He has outlasted some of the best fighters and bore witness first hand to displays of true heart, grit and gutty determination. From the classic back and forth battles to the one sided beatdowns, McCarthy has some great memories of a sport he truly loves.

“I was happy to be part of all of it to be honest with you,” said McCarthy. “I loved being a referee, I still do and that’s why I’m still doing it now. I learned to not walk away from something you love or you will be miserable. All the fights I was part of are memorable to me, are there some that hold a bit more significance than others? Sure there are, I thought UFC 40, when Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz fought for the first time was special.

If you had been part of the UFC and understood how things were before it was sold to the Fertittas, you would appreciate how far it had come. It was dying and when they bought the company they put a lot of money into it. The Fertittas deserve a ton of credit and people don’t really give it to them. Dana is the front man that they wanted, but it was Lorenzo and Frank who put up a lot of money.

They put themselves far into a hole and that’s a hard place to be no matter how much money you have. They stood by it and when UFC 40 with Ken and Tito rolled around, that was a time when I really looked at it and thought it could make it. Before that there were many times when I thought it was going to die. This sport is going to die, it’s not catching on. At UFC 40 I remember standing in the ring and looking around feeling the electricity that I thought it was going to make it.

The sport wasn’t going to be pushed to the side like I thought it would so many times. Doing the first fight with Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell at UFC 43 was awesome. Being involved with Randy’s fight against Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 which was at the time was the biggest crowd in North American History. That was phenomenal, just having the crowd on its feet for the entire fight was amazing. So yes, there have been some special moments for me.”

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