Let's Get It On!_ The Making of MMA and Its Ultimate Referee - Big John Mccarthy [122]
I remember watching it alone at home and thinking, Holy Christ, they have a guy pissing on another guy’s bed. My dad called me afterward and asked why the UFC was letting that happen on TV. But I knew young guys were going to eat it up. I knew the show’s bad boy Chris Leben was one of the toughest kids in there, and I’d originally picked him to make it to the finals.
We were told that the show needed to get a 1.0 rating to get off to a good start and keep its spot on the cable network. The first show drew a 1.2 and seemed to gain a little more of an audience each week. By the end of the season, the show was being called a success.
The first season of The Ultimate Fighter culminated with a live finale four months later at the Cox Pavilion on the University of Nevada, Las Vegas campus. The venue held about 2,500 people, and the UFC still had to give away tickets to fill it. That was about to change.
All sixteen fighters featured on the show were paired up again and given fights. Forrest Griffin, a former police officer from Georgia, and Stephan Bonnar, a Carlson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu student from Chicago, fought a three-round stand-up tug-of-war in the finals. I got to watch this one from my seat while Herb Dean refereed.
UFC 49
“Unfinished Business”
August 21, 2004
MGM Grand Garden Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
Bouts I Reffed:
Justin Eilers vs. Mike Kyle
Randy Couture vs. Vitor Belfort
Eilers made his UFC debut with a great knockout win over Kyle.
Couture demonstrated once again that he was Belfort’s Kryptonite, pulverizing the Brazilian for three straight rounds. Belfort was so downtrodden after the third round that he didn’t even stand to go back to his corner. I asked if he was all right and told him he had to get up and go back to his corner, which he did, but the realization that he couldn’t stop what Couture was doing had already set in, and the bout was called shortly after.
Griffin earned the unanimous decision to take the first Ultimate Fighter title and a six-figure contract with the promotion.
The UFC was so impressed with both fighters, however, that Bonnar also got a contract. I thought it was a classy thing for the UFC to do. Bonnar had left his heart in the cage, and there shouldn’t have been a loser after such a compelling fight.
I refereed the main event, a light heavyweight bout between Ken Shamrock and UFC newcomer Rich Franklin. Standing in the center of the Octagon, I wondered how this fight could top the previous one. It didn’t, but it’s still one of the fights I get asked about the most. Shamrock and Franklin traded punches for a bit until, out of nowhere, Shamrock slipped. He kind of jumped down and went for Franklin’s leg. Shamrock had a good lock on Franklin’s leg and torqued it, but Franklin worked his way out of it. Franklin then pounded the piss out of Shamrock, and I had to step in to stop it.
I’ve been asked about Shamrock’s slip many times. I admit I thought it looked odd in the moment, but I’ve seen fighters do stranger things during fights. I’ve been asked outright if I think Shamrock threw the fight, but I don’t. First of all, Shamrock was the star of that fight and the favorite to win. I honestly think he was trying to drop levels. The leg lock that followed was real, as was the beating he took at the hands of Franklin afterward. It wouldn’t have done Shamrock any good to throw the fight.
After Zuffa had taken over the UFC in 2001, I’d never seen a worked fight in the Octagon. I knew that was something Fertitta and White would have no part of. For one, Fertitta could lose his Las Vegas casino license for any involvement in fixing a fight that had gambling lines placed on it. People also have to remember that not every UFC fight will be a barn burner, and sometimes they can be downright boring. What separates MMA from pro wrestling is that MMA is real. Promoters can’t make every fight a Griffin-Bonnar epic, and they certainly can’t control the outcome. That’s mostly up to the fighters.