Let's Get It On!_ The Making of MMA and Its Ultimate Referee - Big John Mccarthy [91]
At first, I had no idea what was going on, but Meyrowitz was trying to subtly get me up to speed during the conversation. I was able to piece together that Mr. Ozaki wanted Meyrowitz to sign some kind of agreement to copromote the UFC in Japan from there on out. Mr. Ozaki didn’t look like he was going to take no for an answer, and it was obvious Takahashi had been brought along to “encourage” a smooth process.
UFC 17
“Redemption”
May 15, 1998
Mobile Civic Center
Mobile, Alabama
Bouts I Reffed:
Mike Van Arsdale vs. Joe Pardo
David “Tank” Abbott vs. Hugo Duarte
Dan Henderson vs. Carlos Newton
Pete Williams vs. Mark Coleman
Frank Shamrock vs. Jeremy Horn
A silent, mohawked assassin named Chuck Liddell debuted against Noe Hernandez, and they beat the piss out of each other.
Williams’ come-from-behind knockout of Coleman with a kick to his face is a highlight-reel staple to this day.
I hated taking Horn out of mount on top of Shamrock, but Horn had based out and stalled. “Do something with it. You have to move. Don’t just sit there,” I said, but he stayed frozen. I finally stood them, and Shamrock later won by kneebar. Asked later why he didn’t try anything, he said, “John, I was mounted on top of Frank Shamrock and didn’t want to give him a chance to do anything to me.” I just shook my head in disbelief.
SEG asked me to sit at the dais between main event fighters Randy Couture and Maurice Smith at UFC “Ultimate Japan.” I felt like an idiot. (December 1997)
“This is not the way we do business,” Meyrowitz said cordially and then suggested that Ozaki’s lawyer draft and send a proposal to SEG for a future show.
I’d never seen anything like this, but I would come to learn that these types of strong-arm negotiations were common on the Japanese MMA scene.
Finally, Meyrowitz scribbled down something general about being willing to do business with the organization in the future and signed it.
Mr. Ozaki talked for a couple more minutes and finally left with his crew.
Meyrowitz looked at me, relieved that I’d come to his rescue.
“What the hell was that?” I asked.
“I told him I was calling our lawyer when I was really calling you. I didn’t need legal advice. I needed protection!”
I was a multipurpose employee. I’m just lucky I wasn’t asked to wax the floors at the SEG office, because I probably would’ve done that too.
The Yokohama Arena filled to capacity that night with 17,000 spectators, which was one of the promotion’s better-attended efforts since UFC 7 in Buffalo. I wouldn’t say the production was bigger or bolder in any way. There were a lot of Japanese employees running around busy as ants, but things weren’t getting done any differently. One change that did take shape was an elevated and larger ramp for the fighters’ entrances.
What was noticeably distinctive was the audience’s behavior. Japanese crowds were unlike their United States counterparts. They were so into the matches but were as quiet as church mice. It was weird because I could hear the corners instructing their fighters, and they could hear whatever I said. I remember Mr. Koji getting upset because Joe Hamilton, the other referee, started the first bout of the night with the word “Hajime,” which is the way you’d start a judo match.
“We don’t want Hajime,” Koji told me. “We want American.”
I was sent to tell Joe he had to change his starting call.
Ultimate Japan was far from my crowning achievement as a referee. It’s where I made my first major blunder as an official in the cage, something I’ve never quite gotten over because my actions affected the immediate futures of two fighters.
It all started a week before the show when dynamic collegiate wrestler Mark Kerr was scratched from the four-man heavyweight tournament. Tra Telligman was tapped to take his place against Marcus “Conan” Silveira, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu