Let's Get It On!_ The Making of MMA and Its Ultimate Referee - Big John Mccarthy [138]
If I hadn’t, yes, the commission would have handed my fight assignments to another referee and the show would have gone on. But that wasn’t the point for me. What mattered was that I was where I’d said I’d be and wasn’t letting the promotion, the fighters, or the sport down.
Besides my traveling drama, there was another behind-the-scenes issue that made UFC 68 stand out for me.
When I’d heard the main event would match former champion Randy Couture against current heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia, my first thought was that they might assign me that fight. Under different circumstances, this wouldn’t have been a big deal, but Couture had retired for an entire year and we’d actually sparked a friendship. Our families had spent time together, and Couture and I had enjoyed quad riding and other outings in the past few months. I hadn’t thought he’d come out of retirement.
I called Ohio Athletic Commission head Bernie Profato right away to tell him that if he wanted to exclude me from the fight, I understood. I didn’t want any speculation that I’d give an unfair advantage to one fighter. Profato agreed and said he’d assign me to different fights.
I was surprised a few days later when Profato called me back. “I told them what you said, John, but Sylvia’s camp wants you to do the fight.”
I thought about it a moment and agreed to referee if both sides and the commission approved. Yes, I had a relationship with Couture that extended outside the cage, but I also had a longstanding relationship with Sylvia’s manager, Monte Cox. I’d assumed both camps believed this wouldn’t affect my judgment in the Octagon, but it had been my responsibility to at least put it out there.
I’m glad I got to officiate the bout. Today it’s considered one of the sport’s greatest. Many in the industry were concerned for Couture’s well-being heading in. Aging fighters usually don’t fare well, and this one had taken a year off from a constantly evolving sport full of young guns.
We would all come to understand that Couture was the exception to the rule. The forty-three-year-old dropped the six-feet-eight Sylvia out of the gate with an overhand right.
After the punch, Sylvia spent the next twenty-five minutes either fending Couture off his back or chasing him around the cage trying to land a punch. As Couture bobbed and weaved out of the way to win each round, the crowd’s enthusiasm crescendoed. It was as if everyone held their breath until the entire crowd counted down the last ten seconds. When the bell finally sounded, everyone let it out all at once. The cheers for Couture, the symbol of underdog perseverance, were deafening.
The event broke a North American attendance record for an MMA event with 19,079 spectators, and it was one of the most electrifying nights I’ve ever refereed.
Zuffa followed up with its next pay-per-view event a month later. UFC 69 “Shootout” was held on April 7, 2007, at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, in the UFC’s first visit to the Lone Star State.
For days before the event, the Texas fans clogged the fighters’ hotel lobby with their Sharpies, posters, and cameras. And it wasn’t just the fighters they were interested in.
The day of the show while I was eating with Elaine in the hotel’s restaurant, fans were gathering three deep at the entrance. I had to go back to my room, pack my gear, and get to the arena, but with so many fans around I knew it would take too long to get across the hotel to the elevators—and you know I hate being late for anything.
I asked the restaurant manager if there was any other way to get upstairs, and he ushered us through the kitchen to the service elevators.
The door opened, and Dana White popped out. We flashed each other knowing smiles.
The UFC was taking off in a big way. Two years after the debut of The Ultimate Fighter on Spike TV, Zuffa had nearly