This weekend, almost 23 years after the birth of the UFC, the promotion will host UFC 200 live on pay-per-view from the brand-new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Milestone events like this bring about a sense of nostalgia for other historic moments in the history of the sport, and of course the one that stands
This weekend, almost 23 years after the birth of the UFC, the promotion will host UFC 200 live on pay-per-view from the brand-new T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Milestone events like this bring about a sense of nostalgia for other historic moments in the history of the sport, and of course the one that stands out above all others is a show on Friday, November 12th, 1993 in Denver, Colorado that made all the others possible – UFC 1.
These days the UFC is a well-oiled machine, but back then in the very darkest ages of the sport, it was anything but, making it a white-knuckled rollercoaster ride from start to finish for everyone involved.
As such, UFC 1 has become an endlessly fascinating breeding ground for behind-the-scenes stories regarding the crazy things happened that night, and in the days leading up to the show, both inside and outside of the cage, and in this article we’ll delve into ten of the best.
Art Jimmerson is arguably the most derided fighter in the history of MMA. This is understandable. The dude went into UFC 1 thinking he was going to collect some easy money by knocking out strip mall McDojo masters.
As we know, the reality was that Jimmerson was out of his depth in a no holds barred competition. And, of course, he fought Royce Gracie wearing only one glove, instantly guaranteeing himself a place in MMA’s hall of shame.
UFC co-creator Campbell McClaren recently dished on the one-glove issue on Darce Side Radio. It turns out “Big” John McCarthy had an exchange with Jimmerson before the fight. He explained what Royce Gracie would do to Jimmerson, as well as the horrifying fact that the referee wouldn’t separate the fighters in the case of a clinch. This was a fight, not a boxing match.
Art Jimmerson is arguably the most derided fighter in the history of MMA. This is understandable. The dude went into UFC 1 thinking he was going to collect some easy money by knocking out strip mall McDojo masters.
As we know, the reality was that Jimmerson was out of his depth in a no holds barred competition. And, of course, he fought Royce Gracie wearing only one glove, instantly guaranteeing himself a place in MMA’s hall of shame.
UFC co-creator Campbell McClaren recently dished on the one-glove issue on Darce Side Radio. It turns out “Big” John McCarthy had an exchange with Jimmerson before the fight. He explained what Royce Gracie would do to Jimmerson, as well as the horrifying fact that the referee wouldn’t separate the fighters in the case of a clinch. This was a fight, not a boxing match.
“Big John said, ‘you know what he’s going to do to you right?’” McLaren said, re-telling the story he only recently became privy to. “Jimmerson said, ‘what’s he going to do?’ and he was dancing around and doing boxing moves. Big John said, ‘You ever get in a clinch in a boxing match?’ Jimmerson said, ‘yeah, the ref breaks it up.’ Big John goes,” In this they’re not going to break it up when he grabs you. He’s going to have his arms on you. They’re not going to break that up. The ref doesn’t break that up in this fight.’ Jimmerson goes, ‘what?’ Big John said, “He’s going to shoot in. He’s going to grab you. You are going to get one chance to hit him, and if you miss, he’s going to be all over you.’ Jimmerson said, ‘He’s going to break my arm isn’t he?’ Big John said, ‘Yeah, he’s going to break your arm.’
“That’s when he decided to wear the one glove,” McLaren revealed. “To make sure we could see him tapping with the other hand. Walking with him to the Octagon, he said, ‘If I tap with my glove hand, is it a still a tap?’ That’s when I knew it wasn’t going to work out.”
This story, in conjunction with Art Davie revealing Jimmerson neglected to bring his shorts, gloves, and boxing shoes to the fight, make Jimmerson out to be a comic relief jobber. And to an extent, he was–at least in the UFC. He was a punching bag (or grappling dummy, in this case) for Royce Gracie. However, Jimmerson was also a professional fighter. We’ve been re-watching a lot of the old classics on UFC Fight Pass. As a result, we’ve developed a sense of protective nostalgia toward some fighters. We’re not going into full “LEAVE JIMMERSON ALONE” mode or anything like that. We’re just saying that Jimmerson wasn’t an entire sport’s joke once. Let’s just remember that.
My father was an avid martial arts enthusiast. I remember treading into the basement where he had set up a heavy bag, a speed bag, and free weights. There was also a television, and on that television was usually boxing…but sometimes there’d be mixed martial arts—specifically the UFC.
I knew about the UFC throughout most of my childhood, and sometimes I’d even watch the cards with my father. However, I didn’t start getting deep into the TapouT-clad rabbit hole until high school. When I first got my driver’s license, my friends and I headed to the mall. Our objective: Pick up as many old-school UFC DVDs as we could find. We bought one of each they had in stock (I think our first haul was UFCs 1, 3, and 8).
We decided to watch in order. We popped the DVD in, and hit play.
“Hello, I’m Bill Wallace and welcome to McNichols are-*BELCH*”
We died laughing. But Wallace’s infamous burp in the first 15 seconds of the broadcast wasn’t the only bizarre and insane thing to happen during the first UFC event. By the end of UFC 1, I asked myself “What lunacy was going on behind the scenes?” because clearly, things were chaotic behind the curtain.
It’s been a decade since then, and in that decade I’ve read several books that elucidated the circumstances around the UFC’s birth—Clyde Gentry’s No Holds Barred and Jonathan Snowden’s Total MMA being chief among them. These books, while fantastic, don’t offer the same level of insight into the primordial UFC scene than Is This Legal: The Inside Story of The First UFC From the Man Who Created Itby UFC co-creator Art Davie.
My father was an avid martial arts enthusiast. I remember treading into the basement where he had set up a heavy bag, a speed bag, and free weights. There was also a television, and on that television was usually boxing…but sometimes there’d be mixed martial arts—specifically the UFC.
I knew about the UFC throughout most of my childhood, and sometimes I’d even watch the cards with my father. However, I didn’t start getting deep into the TapouT-clad rabbit hole until high school. When I first got my driver’s license, my friends and I headed to the mall. Our objective: Pick up as many old-school UFC DVDs as we could find. We bought one of each they had in stock (I think our first haul was UFCs 1, 3, and 8).
We decided to watch in order. We popped the DVD in, and hit play.
“Hello, I’m Bill Wallace and welcome to McNichols are-*BELCH*”
We died laughing. But Wallace’s infamous burp in the first 15 seconds of the broadcast wasn’t the only bizarre and insane thing to happen during the first UFC event. By the end of UFC 1, I asked myself “What lunacy was going on behind the scenes?” because clearly, things were chaotic behind the curtain.
It’s been a decade since then, and in that decade I’ve read several books that elucidated the circumstances around the UFC’s birth—Clyde Gentry’s No Holds Barred and Jonathan Snowden’s Total MMA being chief among them. These books, while fantastic, don’t offer the same level of insight into the primordial UFC scene than Is This Legal: The Inside Story of The First UFC From the Man Who Created Itby UFC co-creator Art Davie.
To be honest, I was worried when I first heard about Is This Legal. I anticipated it’d be 200 or so pages of self–congratulatory drivel from an ad-man seeking to squeeze as juice much out of the “I helped create the UFC” lemon that he possibly could. I became more relieved as I read each page.
In Is This Legal, Art Davie doesn’t seek to promote himself (though he has his moments), but just to tell the story about what happened leading up to the very first UFC show—and not just the weeks ahead of time. We’re talking the story of UFC 1 decades before Gerard Gordeau kicked out Teila Tuli’s tooth. It all started with Art Davie’s boxing training and a chance encounter with a wrestler who put Davie on his ass with a double-leg. From there, discussions in the barracks (Davie was a marine) about style vs. style and mixed rules fighting piqued Davie’s interest. The topic stayed with him throughout his career in advertising. He tried to pitch a UFC-like show to a client, who denied it. While he was doing research for the pitch, he stumbled upon the name Rorion Gracie.
I’d say the rest is history but that’s the point of the book—Davie unveils instances that are not part of mainstream MMA history because nobody knew them besides himself and a few others.
The relationship between Davie and Gracie is one of the book’s more interesting dynamics. Their relationship only becomes more fascinating as Davie offers insights into Gracie family politics and other dark family secrets.
And then, of course, there’s the intricacies and crazy stories behind the actual UFC 1 event itself. We won’t list them all here, but there are some crazy ones. Did you know Art Jimmerson forgot to bring his boxing gloves and shoes? Art Davie had to send someone out to a sporting goods store a few hours before the PPV started. There was also a masquerade ball the day after the event where (almost) all the fighters showed up. Furthermore, a full-on fighter revolt nearly took place the day before the event. Not only that, but the contract between Davie and Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG) wasn’t made official until hours before the broadcast went live. Seriously, there’s some unbelievable stuff to read about in Is This Legal?
Aside from the humorous anecdotes, Is This Legal is most important because it’s a catalog of an era Zuffa would love for us to forget. Their version of UFC history doesn’t start until 2001. Davie’s book is a reminder that Zuffa didn’t invent MMA. It’s a reminder that the UFC’s original founders (or at least Davie) weren’t the bloodthirsty maniacs with a predilection towards mendacity Dana White and co. paint them out to be with their “OMG THERE WERE NO RULES AT ALL BEFORE WE BOUGHT THE UFC” bullshit. However, it’s worth noting that Davie did have a bit of a crazy streak. In the book, he admits that he wanted a fighting surface where the border was electrified to discourage timidity. He also wanted a cage surrounded by (fed) piranhas and (docile) sharks.
Davie teamed up with Bellator commentator Sean Wheelock to write the book. Their style is easily readable and funny.
One of my favorite excerpts from the book is where Davie is bashing Bill Wallace’s commentary. According to Davie, Wallace’s extreme conceitedness was equaled only by his ignorance about martial arts. In pre-fight meetings, Wallace scoffed at grappling and said grapplers wouldn’t be able to handle his kicks. Check it out:
I knew that there were some awkward moments and gaffes from my constant trips back to the production truck, but I had no idea as to what extent, until they played back some of the clips for me.
Wallace opened the PPV broadcast in a very matter-of-fact tone with the words “Hello ladies and gentlemen. You are about to see something that you have never seen before—The Ultimate Fighting Challenge. Hello, I’m Bill Wallace and welcome to McNichols Arena.”
At this point he belched into the microphone, which made “McNichols Arena” sound like “Mcniquoolz Oreeda.”
Wallace then continued with, “excuse me, McNichols Arena in fabulous Denver, Colorado. Along with me is Jim Brown, and I’d like to introduce you to what is called The Ultimate Fighting Challenge.”
In his opening lines, Wallace had sad the name of our event wrong—twice—and sounded like he almost threw up in his mouth live on air.
And that set the precedent for Wallace’s night.
He gave a wide array of pronunciations—all wrong—for Teila Tuli and Gerard Gordeau. He consistently mispronounced Jimmerson as “Jimm-AH-son,” and Rosier (correctly Roe-zher) as “Roe-ZEER.” Ignoring the Portuguese pronunciation of Royce, in which the R is said like the English H, as in “Hoyce,” he called him Royce with a hard R—like Rolles Royce. He also referred to him as “Roy.”
Wallace didn’t fare much better with the names of his on-air colleagues, calling Rod Machado “Machacho,” Brian Kilmeade “Kilmore,” and Rich Goins “Ron” and “Rod.” Not once in the entire broadcast did he correctly refer to him as Rich.
Our tournament bracket was “the chart,” the instant replay was “the rematch,” our fighting area was “the octagonal octagon,” and our location in Denver was mentioned numerous times as being “a mile high up in the air,” as though we were floating around in that cloud city from The Empire Strikes Back.
And over the course of the broadcast, Wallace had these gems as well:
“Sumo is very formal, because it’s a very national sport of Japan.”
“You have a Kenpo stylist against basically a kickboxer that uses the boxing techniques along with the kicking techniques of Taekwondo of kicking.”
“Pain hurts.”
“It kind of discomboberates you.”
“I’m an old person, if you want to wrestle, we can wrestle.”
“Most fights do (end up on the ground) because you’re in a bar room and that bar’s kind of slippery with all that, with all that beer on the ground and all that glass down there and everything.”
“The mouth is the dirtiest part of the human body. You wouldn’t think so but it is.”
“Now you’re going to think how maybe those kicking techniques can set up some grappling techniques, or maybe create the opening that you need for the, what you might call the kaboomer.”
“Most boxers when they enter the ring, they’re nice and wet already.”
And, “it’s kind of ironic that Royce Gracie’s going to wear his judo top.”
Of course, it was not a “judo top” and there was nothing ironic about Royce wearing it.
That was one of my personal favorite bits of the book. Seemingly benign, I know, but part of what I like about Is This Legal is that it reminds us about the little things that we all miss as well as the big things we never got a chance to see.
Is This Legal is one of MMA literature’s more important works. If you’re a fan of MMA, you need to buy this book. You will learn A TON about the true genesis of the UFC (not Zuffa’s ridiculous version of events) while being thoroughly entertained thanks to Davie’s matter-of-fact attitude about life and quick wit.
(“And after your opponent hits the ground, make sure you walk away with your arms raised, like you just performed the world’s greatest magic trick.” / Funny stuff fromMixed Martial Animations)
(“And after your opponent hits the ground, make sure you walk away with your arms raised, like you just performed the world’s greatest magic trick.” / Funny stuff fromMixed Martial Animations)
(Gerard Gordeau delivers the first head-kick TKO in UFC history against Teila Tuli back at UFC 1, which took place exactly 20 years today on November 12th, 1993.)
There are literally thousands of ways a mixed martial arts match can end, but one of the most thrilling methods is the head kick knockout.
Over the course of two decades of fights in the UFC Octagon, there have been a number of memorable knockout blows delivered via head kick, and in honor of the UFC’s 20th anniversary, I’ve put together a list of what I believe are the top 20 head kick knockouts in UFC history.
I wanted to keep the list strictly to knockouts that happened during live UFC events, but I’m going to bend the rules a bit and kick off the list with one that happened on TUF.
Of course I’m talking about Uriah Hall’s spinning hook kick KO of Adam Cella, which took place earlier this year during TUF 17. It was a devastating knockout that made UFC president Dana White’s hyperbole raise to a whole new level as he declared Hall the nastiest fighter to ever step into the TUF house (the same house that produced Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin – you know, former UFC champs), and thus the UFC embarked on a social media campaign to play the clip non-stop on every medium in existence.
It was a brutal knockout, and I literally felt sick watching it. Even though Hall never lived up to the massive expectations that were placed on him, his most well-known career highlight deserves a place at #20.
19. Pat Miletich vs. Shonie Carter, UFC 32 (6/29/01)
(Gerard Gordeau delivers the first head-kick TKO in UFC history against Teila Tuli back at UFC 1, which took place exactly 20 years today on November 12th, 1993.)
There are literally thousands of ways a mixed martial arts match can end, but one of the most thrilling methods is the head kick knockout.
Over the course of two decades of fights in the UFC Octagon, there have been a number of memorable knockout blows delivered via head kick, and in honor of the UFC’s 20th anniversary, I’ve put together a list of what I believe are the top 20 head kick knockouts in UFC history.
I wanted to keep the list strictly to knockouts that happened during live UFC events, but I’m going to bend the rules a bit and kick off the list with one that happened on TUF.
Of course I’m talking about Uriah Hall’s spinning hook kick KO of Adam Cella, which took place earlier this year during TUF 17. It was a devastating knockout that made UFC president Dana White’s hyperbole raise to a whole new level as he declared Hall the nastiest fighter to ever step into the TUF house (the same house that produced Rashad Evans and Forrest Griffin – you know, former UFC champs), and thus the UFC embarked on a social media campaign to play the clip non-stop on every medium in existence.
It was a brutal knockout, and I literally felt sick watching it. Even though Hall never lived up to the massive expectations that were placed on him, his most well-known career highlight deserves a place at #20.
19. Pat Miletich vs. Shonie Carter, UFC 32 (6/29/01)
I couldn’t do a best-of MMA list without sneaking Pat Miletich and Shonie Carter in it, and thankfully they were both involved in the same fight so I get to kill two birds with one stone here.
At UFC 32 in 2001, Miletich fought Carter in a matchup between two of my personal old-school fan favorites. Miletich was coming off a defeat to Carlos Newton where he lost the UFC welterweight championship, while Carter was coming off an amazing spinning backfist KO of Matt Serra, meaning this fight had serious title implications at the time.
But while many predicted a close matchup on paper, the outcome belonged to “The Croatian Sensation” as he hit “Mr. International” with a head kick so hard it knocked Carter out cold, one of the very rare head kick KOs that took place in the first decade of the Octagon’s existence.
I saw this one on a tape I borrowed from a friend a long time ago and I’ve always wanted to see it again but haven’t had the opportunity to. Fortunately I’ve found a GIF for all of us to enjoy, but if you can track down the entire fight I highly recommend it.
One of the most awesome head kick knockouts in UFC history took place at UFC 126, and no, I’m not talking about the one you’re already thinking of (that will come later). I’m actually talking about the head kick KO that Brit Paul Taylor delivered on Gabe Ruediger, one of the most underrated finishes in UFC history in my opinion and one that I don’t think enough people have seen.
On any other night, Taylor would have claimed a nice $50,000 bonus check for KOTN, but as we all know there was another very good head kick KO that same night. Still, we can give him some props for scoring a classic knockout in what turned out to be his final appearance in the Octagon; Taylor recently announced his retirement from the sport due to a variety of nagging injuries. At least we have this sweet finish to remember him by. (Watch the GIF here.)
Back in 2006, Georges St-Pierre was seen as the future of the UFC welterweight division and at UFC 65 he was able to get his revenge on Matt Hughes (who had earlier submitted St-Pierre with an armbar at UFC 50) when he kicked the Miletich Fighting Systems product in the head and then followed it up with a series of punches on the ground to capture the UFC welterweight title for the fist time in his career.
This head kick is the only part of the fight I really remembered, and I was going to place it higher on the list originally, but since St-Pierre needed the follow-up punches to finish off the job I decided to stick it at #17. Either way, a job well-done by St-Pierre in this fight, and arguably the best finish of his storied career to date. (Watch the GIF here.)
One of my favorite fights of all time took place at UFC FUEL TV 4, an unheralded middleweight bout between Andrew Craig and Rafael Natal. I was actually the reporter who first broke news of this fight back when I worked for theScore.com, and so it always holds a special place in my heart for that. But I’ve broken other fight announcements before, and rarely do the final products turn out to be as good as Craig vs. Natal ended up being.
In the fight, Natal was absolutely beating the crap out of Craig and looking like he was going to cruise to a stoppage win, but at the end of the second round, Craig – who was down big on points – threw a booming head kick out of desperation and caught Natal square on the chin, knocking him out cold.
An absolutely insane fight, and an even crazier knockout. Wow. (Watch the GIF here.)
15. Chuck Liddell vs. Renato “Babalu” Sobral, UFC 40 (11/22/02)
Back in his prime, Chuck Liddell was an absolute killer, and at UFC 40 he showed that he wasn’t just a power puncher as he head-kicked Renato “Babalu” Sobral into oblivion to earn a shot at the light heavyweight title.
Despite coming from a karate background, this remains one of only two head kick knockouts in Liddell’s storied MMA career (and his only one in the UFC), so let’s savor it since we’ll never get another one of these from “The Iceman” now that he’s happily retired. (Watch the GIF here.)
Mark Hunt is considered by many to have one of the best chins in the history of combat sports, but at UFC 160 Junior dos Santos showed that Hunt is a human being like the rest of us when Cigano spinning wheel kicked Hunt in the temple to knock him to the ground, and then followed it up with a massive punch to put “The Super Samoan” completely out cold.
It was a beautiful, dominant performance by Dos Santos up until the KO, and the finish was just a cherry on top. I still can’t believe that Hunt was finished in this fashion, but then again dos Santos is one of the most powerful punchers the Octagon has ever seen – and, one of the hardest kickers as well, clearly. (Watch the GIF here.)
13. Rory Markham vs. Brodie Farber, UFC Fight Night 14 (7/19/08)
Another knockout that doesn’t get as much love as it should was Rory Markham’s massive head kick KO of Brodie Farber at UFC Fight Night 14. Just watch the GIF and tell me how awesome this is.
It’s too bad that Markham has had so many issues out side of the cage, because when he was in the Octagon he was an absolute killer. But at least he was able to give us this beauty before he rode off into the sunset, and for that we have to give him props.
12. Tim Sylvia vs. Tra Telligman, UFC 54 (8/20/05)
I know Tim Sylvia gets a bad rap from fans these days, but don’t forget that he gave us one of the best head kick knockouts ever witnessed inside the Octagon.
It took place at UFC 54, when Sylvia took on Tracy “Tra” Telligman. Sylvia was coming off a loss to Andrei Arlovski at UFC 51 that cost him a chance to capture the UFC heavyweight title, but after taking Telligman’s head off, Sylvia gained the confidence to make a run up the ladder and eventually capture the belt.
Sylvia has had an underappreciated career and this finish of Telligman is my favorite moment from it. It’s also one of the very few knockouts in UFC history that’s occurred at the 4:59 mark of round one, making it extra special.
11. Alan Belcher vs. Jorge Santiago, UFC Fight Night 7 (12/13/06)
One of my favorite all-time knockouts of any kind took place at UFC Fight Night 7, when a young Alan Belcher took on Jorge Santiago and delivered one of the most damaging head kick finishes in the history of the sport.
I don’t think Santiago was ever the same after this KO, which is a shame because he is a skilled fighter — although he was never able to prove that in the Octagon. As for Belcher, he has had a solid career but there’s no doubt in my mind this is his ultimate career highlight, and it’s for good reason. (Watch the GIF here.)
Ready for the Top 10? Hit that “next page” link and read on…
Somewhere in the back your mind is a Mt. Rushmore of MMA, one for fighter and one for non-fighters. On the latter, you’d undoubtedly have Dana White in addition to your pick of Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr., Bruce Buffer, or Joe Rogan. However, you only get to pick two of the guys I’ve listed because the second spot on the mountain is reserved for the most recognized referee in all of MMA, “Big” John McCarthy.
No one has had a bigger impact on the sport of mixed martial arts without having actually fought someone or having the last name of Fertita or White. Few have stepped inside the Octagon more times than McCarthy and almost no one has helped grow the sport from birth to the dark ages and into the mainstream arena that it is in today. And you thought he just asked the fighters if they were ready and raised the winner’s hand?
“Big” John McCarthy was kind enough to sit down with CagePotato recently to discuss his new book ‘Let’s Get It On!‘ which can be purchased on Amazon. The book is 50% MMA history lesson, 50% autobiography, and 100% worth every penny spent to own a copy and every minute spent reading. So, without further adieu, let’s get it on!
Somewhere in the back your mind is a Mt. Rushmore of MMA, one for fighter and one for non-fighters. On the latter, you’d undoubtedly have Dana White in addition to your pick of Charles “Mask” Lewis Jr., Bruce Buffer, or Joe Rogan. However, you only get to pick two of the guys I’ve listed because the second spot on the mountain is reserved for the most recognized referee in all of MMA, “Big” John McCarthy.
No one has had a bigger impact on the sport of mixed martial arts without having actually fought someone or having the last name of Fertita or White. Few have stepped inside the Octagon more times than McCarthy and almost no one has helped grow the sport from birth to the dark ages and into the mainstream arena that it is in today. And you thought he just asked the fighters if they were ready and raised the winner’s hand?
“Big” John McCarthy was kind enough to sit down with CagePotato recently to discuss his new book ‘Let’s Get It On!‘ which can be purchased as of yesterday on Amazon. The book is 50% MMA history lesson, 50% autobiography, and 100% worth every penny spent to own a copy and every minute spent reading. So, without further ado, let’s get it on!
CagePotato: Can you tell us how you got the nickname “Big”? Was someone you know a big fan of Big John Stud or something?
Big John McCarthy: (Laughing) No, you know what – my mother used to call me that for a while but Art Davie is the one that put that out there. There was an incident where I was joking around with him and I picked him up over my head. He started screaming. “Big John put me down!” From that point he always called me that and people just got used to it so it stuck.
CP: Why did you decide to write this book? Was it because you wanted to share the history of the UFC?
BJM: It was exactly that. You know if it weren’t for Loretta Hunt bugging me to death about writing the book it never would have been written. The one thing she told me that really convinced me to go ahead with this is that there is a huge history within the sport of MMA that people don’t know. There are a lot of things that have gone on, and basically people look at MMA from the year 2005 when The Ultimate Fighter series came out and think that’s how it all got started. But there’s a lot of people that deserve credit for getting it to that point.
Lorenzo Fertita – I think he deserves a ton of credit. He really put his money where his mouth is and took on a lot of personal debt to help see this thing survive and get people to buy into MMA. At $40 million in debt he still kept going.
Bob Meyrowitz – He did much of the same thing – invested a lot of his own money. He kept trying to keep this thing going even though he wasn’t making any money.
Jeff Blatnick – This is a guy people need to know about. The sport borrowed his credibility, he was an Olympic gold medalist in wrestling and came to UFC 4 and fell in love with MMA.
There are a ton of people who helped get the sport where it is today — some at the beginning, others at the end — that people just don’t know about. That’s why I decided to write the book.
CP: You copyrighted your catchphrase “Let’s get it on!” much in the same way that Michael and Bruce Buffer did with “Let’s get ready to rumble!” and “It’s time!” respectively. Was that really necessary and have you ever had to pursue legal action against someone using your phrase without permission?
BJM: Is it necessary? I don’t think so. It’s one of those things where people force you into things because they want to take part in something, or be part of something. It forces you into doing something – but have I ever sued anyone? No. I’ve told people, “Hey, don’t do that.” That’s something I have to do to keep this thing copyrighted. I know Michael has sued people over using his line and won because you can’t do it without permission, but no, I’ve never done that.
CP: You followed in your dad’s footsteps and joined the LAPD at a young age. With such a busy career nabbing bad guys, how did you get involved with the UFC?
BJM: I got involved in the UFC because of the association I had with Rorion Gracie. I started working out with the Gracie’s before there was a UFC and when it came about, I was Royce’s sparring partner for the fights getting him ready and then it was the very first fight in the UFC between Gerard Gordeau and Teila Tuli that got me the position to be the referee. It was supposed to be that the referee could not stop the fight; the fighter was to tap out or the corner was to throw in the towel. Well then Tuli gets kicked in the mouth and punched in the face and he’s down. Then [referee] Joao [Alberto Barreto] came in and stopped it and said he couldn’t continue fighting. Then there was a conference of sorts between the Joao and Rorion who was upset because he didn’t want refs stopping fights. That’s how I got my job, because you have to have compassion for another person and they needed a steady guy.
CP: Alright, I have to ask and I’m crossing my fingers hoping you’ll tell me. Which fighter crapped themselves and who did you tell to go back to the locker room and take a shower?
BJM: You know what? That’s gonna stay with me. I’m sorry but I owe it to the fighters not to do that to them. As I was doing the book, I did not want to infringe upon the relationships I had with fighters or put them in a position where they felt like they couldn’t trust me. Stuff happens all the time in fights and back in the locker room and it’s embarrassing for that person. If they want to share it, they can share it, but I’m not gonna.
CP: Of all the people you’ve met, who are you the most grateful for knowing? Who do you wish you never met?
BJM: (Laughing heartily) Oh wow! You know I don’t think I could put one person down that I’m most grateful for knowing. There are several people who have been in the martial arts for a long time that I take great pride in the fact that I know them and I respect everything they’ve done in the martial arts.
Helio Gracie is somebody I felt honored to meet, spend time with and roll with. To me, he’s an incredible man who lived an incredible life and did incredible things. So that’s a special person on my list.
Chuck Norris is someone else; Chuck Norris is the real deal at everything he does in life. The way he’s gone about representing the martial arts throughout his life is something that I hold in high esteem. Another person that I just love as a human being is Gene LeBell. He’s been a friend of mine for a long time. Gene’s a super tough guy, but one of the nicest and most generous guy you’ll ever find.
When it comes to people I don’t like, I don’t worry about those things. That’s not what life’s about. If you know someone who you don’t like or they don’t treat you right, just move on.
CP: During the Tito Ortiz – Ken Shamrock feud, you detail an incident that occurred at a weigh-in where Ken threw a chair at Tito only to have it snatched out of the air by Dana White. You made the remark that it was a pretty good catch for a guy who didn’t know it was coming. Are you implying that White staged the altercation or am I just reading into it?
BJM: Yeah, it was awesome! No, he didn’t know it was coming; you’re reading into it. Dana didn’t know Ken was going to kick that chair and he caught it without ever expressing surprise. I mean, Ken stepped back and kicked that chair and it popped up and Dana stuck his hand out and grabbed ahold of it. It was a moment I thought was very funny and I thought he handled it very well.
CP: I guess Shamrock wasn’t training kicks with Steven Seagal or else that chair would’ve hit the mark.
BJM: HAHAHA! You’re probably right!
CP: Speaking of staged events, you’ve seen a few fixed fights over the years. Have you seen any recently, UFC or otherwise?
BJM: No – I want to make it clear to people when they hear that. There have been promotions that have put out fake fights. It’s what we call a work. It’s wrong and it should never happen. The UFC has never done that. When it did happen in the UFC, it was early on because we had tournaments where the two guys fighting were managed by the same guy. He’d say, “This guy has a very good chance of winning it and this guy doesn’t so I want him to throw the fight.” That’s when it happened. The first one I put in the book was Oleg Taktarov vs. Anthony Macias; they both had the same manager named Buddy Albin. Buddy’s the one that put them up to it and the UFC had no idea. When it happened I went to the owner, Bob Meyrowitz, and told him that [Macias] threw that fight and gave up on purpose and that he had no intention of fighting.
CP: What does C.O.M.M.A.N.D. stand for and what should fans know about it?
BJM: Certification of Officials of Mixed Martial Arts National Development. Our goal is to bring awareness to both judges and referees as far as the way the sport of MMA is evolving and what they should know about it. If they’re a judge, the way they should look at it to credit fighters for good technique. We want them to know what it looks like if a fighter’s stalling a fight. The main thing is to get everyone involved in the officiating process to be looking at things the same way and doing things the same way. We want everyone in everywhere to be on the same page because it’s good for the fighters; it’s good for the promoters; it’s good for the fans, and everyone gets accustomed to seeing the same thing. We want fights officiated and judged with consistency across the board.
CP: It’s been well documented that you and Zuffa/Dana White had a falling out a few years back. How are things now between you and the UFC and why did you feel compelled to accept full responsibility for all that transpired?
BJM: Life is about learning from your experiences. Some things you do are good or bad, or they work for you or they don’t. If I do something, I’m going to take responsibility for it. I’m not going to dwell on the past, nor do I harbor any ill feelings towards Dana White at all. If he’s gonna have hard feelings towards me, then that’s him and that’s the way it will be; it’s up to him. But I don’t think I’ve done anything bad towards Dana. I absolutely respect everything he’s done in this sport and I that he helped build and take this sport to the mainstream forefront. I love the UFC and all the fights they put on and if I’m not refereeing the fights, I’m watching them.
CP: Some fans may not know, but you helped write the first rules in the early days of the UFC and later went on to help draft the Unified Rules as well. What, if any, rules do you wish were added or done away with altogether?
BJM: HAHAHA! You know there’s rules that I don’t like or that I know are there but aren’t really doing a lot but you know what? They’re not going to change. The athletic commission is a government body and they’re going to look at a rule that’s been around for basically twelve years and find that in those twelve years it’s been working for them, we haven’t had any problems with it, so why change it?
That’s understandable because if you change something then somebody gets hurt because the rule was changed then you’re looking at a liability issue, which means someone could go and sue the state because the rule was changed which led to them getting hurt. I’m not saying it would happen, just that it could. I don’t see the rules changing much. There’s nothing really to add or take away and the ones we’ve got are working.
CP: What has been the scariest moment you experienced in the cage?
BJM: I haven’t really had any scary moments. Let’s break it down into fighting: The scariest thing that can happen in fighting, if you understand fighting and injuries, is the thing you don’t see and that is concussions. You see a guy get knocked out and the fans say,”Ohh, he’s knocked out,” or whatever, but when that happens it can have a lasting effect on someone. Concussions and brain trauma are the scariest things that can happen and it’s what I worry about the most.
*** There you have it, the one and only “Big” John McCarthy, ladies and gents. I seriously recommend you buy yourself an early Christmas present and get this book. In my opinion, it’s the best MMA book since ‘Blood in the Cage‘. ***
