(“Stuffing the referee’s arm up his own asshole, is Jackson.” — Mike Goldberg)
We’ve seen the ref-cam gimmick during old PRIDE and Strikeforce events — sometimes it was awesome, sometimes it made us want to barf from motion sickness — but for the first time this Saturday, the UFC will be adding the third-man perspective to its UFC on FOX: Shogun vs. Vera broadcast. Here’s the rundown, from a FOX press release sent out yesterday:
As a pioneer in production innovation, FOX Sports has used unique camera views like Catcher Cam, Diamond Cam and Gopher Cam to bring viewers closer to the excitement of the sports they love. Saturday night at the Staples Center in in Los Angeles is no different as the network brings UFC fans to a place they’ve never been — inside the Octagon, within inches of the fighters battling in the cage.
Ref Cam makes its broadcast and UFC debut Saturday, Aug. 4 (8:00-10:00 PM ET), from the Staples Center bringing fans a new perspective to the two-hour quadruple-header.
Similar in size to the latest evolution of Diamond Cam, Ref Cam is a small, lightweight, wireless high definition, radio frequency transmission camera showing the point of view of the only other person inside the Octagon with the fighters. During Saturday’s broadcast, the lens will be placed at the top button of the referee’s shirt. The power-source, a long-life lithium ion battery and the transmitter are worn as a light chest vest under the referee’s shirt. Developed by Inertia Unlimited, it was first used earlier this summer during HBO’s broadcast of Amir Kahn vs. Danny Garcia fight and received very positive reviews from production and viewers.
On Saturday, the refs wearing those cameras will include Herb Dean and “Big” John McCarthy, who are working the main and co-main events, respectively. Check out a highlight reel of ref cam footage below, and let us know what you think of the UFC’s latest addition in the comments section.
(“HUMANS” MMA ref cam highlight video, via GYVIDEOS)