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“What do you think?” he asked seriously.

I looked down to see he’d positioned one of his testicles to protrude from his shorts at its maximum density.

The room erupted in laughter. I’d fallen right into it, and, yeah, it was a good one.

Sometimes it’s hard for fans to grasp that fighters are people too. Being around them so much, I really get a sense of who they are, especially after watching them grow up in the cage over years of shows. I’m a referee, and I’m impartial when I step into the cage, but I’ve certainly been touched by fighters and others who have traveled through the sport, some right alongside me.

I was deeply affected by the death of former UFC middleweight champion Evan Tanner, who succumbed to heat exposure while in a California desert in September of 2008. Elaine and I had both watched the quiet but intellectual Tanner struggle with alcoholism when we’d first met him at UFC 18. Tanner would drink heavily at the after parties, sometimes to the point that he wouldn’t remember what he’d done.

One night, Tanner got especially inebriated, picked up Elaine, put her on his shoulder, and refused to put her down. Then he fell and dropped Elaine on her head. We weren’t sure he remembered it until he brought it up in an interview years later while talking about his alcoholism and how embarrassed he was that he’d done that to her. Tanner apologized to Elaine shortly after that.

Still, Tanner was a self-made fighter and a darn good one at that. A loner by nature, he learned jiu-jitsu by watching videos, before later joining the formidable Team Quest with Randy Couture, Matt Lindland, and Dan Henderson in Oregon. We watched Tanner win the UFC middleweight title against David Terrell at UFC 51 only to lose it four months later. Tanner’s journey to a UFC championship title was unique, which is why I think many people were inspired by him. His first teacher was his VHS player, but that didn’t stop him from becoming a champion.

I was also impacted when Charles Lewis Jr., a clothing entrepreneur of the famous Tapout brand, died in a car accident in 2009. Lewis, known as “Mask” because he always wore colorful superhero-like makeup, championed the sport and preached its merits as he sold his Tapout T-shirts from the trunk of his car in event parking lots.

Lewis was an incredibly giving person and became quite close to my family. My youngest son wore Tapout wristbands for nearly a year straight until we ordered him to take them off because they were so filthy, and I know my daughter had a crush on Lewis for quite some time. I even named one of my English bulldogs Tapout. At events, I always knew when Lewis and the Tapout crew were approaching because he’d yell, “Biiiig Joooohn!” from across the crowded room. It always embarrassed me, but I knew I had a true friend in Lewis.

Speaking at Lewis’ memorial was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. My friend had been too young and full of life to be gone.

In their own ways, Tanner and Lewis touched many lives in the sport. They both used the same simple term: “Believe.” When I think about the way they both incorporated it in their lives, it tells me a lot. Every time I see that word, I think of these two people. It brings a smile to my face and reminds me, Just believe. Don’t let people put limits on you. Do what you need to do how you need to do it.

One of the most uplifting fighters I ever got to be around was Justin Eilers, a former Iowa State middle linebacker who’d been recruited to UFC champion Pat Miletich’s Iowa powerhouse gym by his roommate and former UFC lightweight champion Jens Pulver. Eilers was a good athlete and a free spirit and could strike up a friendly conversation with practically anybody.

I had a running joke with Eilers about an incident when he’d gotten a little too intoxicated and wound up making out with a transvestite in a club, something his Miletich teammates ruthlessly ridiculed him for. I would always come into Eilers’ locker room and go over the rules and procedures before the fight in my usual