Let's Get It On!_ The Making of MMA and Its Ultimate Referee - Big John Mccarthy [156]
—Theodore Roosevelt
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the following people:
Scott Massey, for being passionate and believing in a rock-head who thought he was smarter than you back then. You were a great coach, person, and friend, and I am sorry I didn’t say this to you when I should have.
Jeff Blatnick, who came into our sport with an open mind and was always willing to learn and help. You did much more than most people realize, and you will always be someone I respect and am proud to call my friend.
Chris and Denise, the best of what has come into the second part of my life. Chris, you can accomplish anything, and you have already proved it. Denise, thank you for being a savior. You are relied upon, and you come through every day.
Brian, Felicia, Mike, Majeed, Lou, and all my instructors. Thank you for making BJMUTA what it is, a special place with special people who work hard to make other people’s lives better.
—”Big” John McCarthy
The authors would also like to express our gratitude to Rose Gracie, the team at Medallion Press, including Adam Mock, Heather Musick, Paul Ohlson, Jim Tampa, Brigitte Shepard, and Michal Wlos, as well as Jen Wisnowski from Independent Publishers Group. A special thank-you goes to our editor Emily Steele, whose commitment and gentle touch were appreciated every step of the way. Thank you all for giving us the freedom to make our vision a reality.
And to our agent Margaret O’Connor, who found this book its perfect home and supported us through the process to the finish line.
John, thank you for your trust, patience, bravery and willingness to share history with the world.
For Joe Hall, Brian Knapp, and Mike Fridley, who made all the difference.
For my husband, Shane, my Irish saint. You are my one and only.
—Loretta Hunt
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1. A salute goes out to the LAPD, whose insurance program paid for corrective surgery as soon as I joined up. My Herman Munster—sized hands weren’t made to handle contact lenses.
2. A few years later on a cruise ship, Elaine and I won an award for the worst proposal story ever.
3. The move would later be adopted by Gracie and renamed Kimura after its originator.
4. This was later pared down to an eight-man tournament for UFC 1.
5. Rumors that Rickson was later offered the opportunity to replace Royce at UFC 3 are false. SEG approached Rickson to fight alongside his brother after Royce said Rickson was ten times better than him. Rickson priced himself out.
6. After Rhodes’ overexposure at UFC 2, I’d added a rule that fighters had to wear spandex or something similar under their uniforms. When he had none of his own, I loaned Leopoldo a pair of mine.
7. Horenstein’s luck would continue to elude him later at UFC 14 when he’d face another All-American wrestler named Mark Kerr in his second and final UFC appearance.
8. Coincidentally, Tank Abbott later faced both of these questionable winners in the finals: Taktarov at UFC 6 and Frye at Ultimate Ultimate 96.
9. The Octagon was mostly made of wood, barring the fencing, and all of the structuring underneath was two-by-fours with a lot of trussing.
10. Prior to the bout, I asked