Let's Get It On!_ The Making of MMA and Its Ultimate Referee - Big John Mccarthy [154]
What makes life great is the experiences you have. Usually they involve other people, and the memories can never be taken away. I always say if you can count your real friends on one hand, you’re doing pretty good.
When you’re young, everything is about what you have. When you get older and realize what’s important, everything is about what you do and how you do it.
There was a time when I did everything in my power to be at every UFC because I thought it was that important. I can admit now that sometimes my priorities were screwed up.
I missed many things I should have been at. I left my family in the middle of a vacation because I was asked to be at a commission meeting to help get MMA regulated. I missed my son’s high school graduation because I felt like I needed to be at a UFC. I felt like I owed the UFC, Zuffa, and Dana.
I used to think the greatest compliment I could receive was from the fighters when they’d say, “I’ve waited my whole career to have you referee my fight,” or when they specifically requested me as their referee. But more than any affirmations I could get from any fighter, more than any rules I wrote or any historic bouts I got to officiate, the greatest accomplishment in my life is my family.
I’m overjoyed that my sons, Ron and Johnny, are the honorable people they are and that my daughter is trying to do good things with her life in the military. I have a wonderful wife who cares about me—not about what we have or where we’re going next. She just wants to be together. That’s what counts.
In the last few years, Zuffa has taken the UFC to heights I wouldn’t have dreamed possible. In March of 2011, they purchased their closest rival, Strikeforce, uniting 90 percent of the world’s greatest MMA talent under one roof. As they predicted they would, they have truly become the league of the sport.
In the last couple years, I’ve refereed over 1,000 fights, twice as many as I had from the beginning of my career in 1994 until I retired in 2007. I don’t officiate every big fight anymore, but I’ve gotten to see something better in a way. I’ve observed the sport’s grassroots movement firsthand, and I know MMA is not only going to survive; it’s going to flourish, expand, and become one of the biggest sports in the world.
Fan letters like this always put a smile on my face.
It’s a great thing to see a promotion providing a positive environment for new fighters and putting out a strong product for the fans. It’s also exciting to see kids that I know will make it.
On the other hand, I’ve watched a referee make a bad call or seen judges give a win to the wrong guy, breaking the spirit of a kid who should have won but will never fight again. That’s the kind of thing I’m trying to keep from happening.
When commissions asked me to come and teach other referees back in 2004, I resisted, thinking, Why would I teach your guys to take my job?
I quickly realized I was being shortsighted. They weren’t going to take my job, and if I didn’t referee every big fight, it wasn’t the end of the world. It was right to share what I’d been privileged enough to learn along the way.
My three-day COMMAND courses have evolved so much over the last few years. At first, I know I crammed too much information in for anyone to retain it all, but I learned to manage time and focus on the crucial information. In turn, I know I’m now a better referee than I ever was before, because I’m drilling the important information into my students, which also drills it into me. I’m proud of the fact that many of my students have gone on to work major MMA shows, including for the UFC, Strikeforce, WEC, and others.
Now I’m working at having instructors available to teach classes all over the world. My main