"Big" John McCarthy has been the world’s pre-eminent mixed martial arts referee for fifteen years, beginning with his participation at UFC 2 on March 11, 1994, in Denver, Colorado. McCarthy has refereed nearly 600 bouts worldwide, including every major UFC event until UFC 77 (excluding two), until a one-year retirement in December 2007. His unmatched tenure put him in the middle of many of the sport’s greatest moments, from Tito Ortiz-Ken Shamrock I at UFC 40 in 2002 to Randy Couture-Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 in March of 2007.

After a one-year foray into color commentating and on-camera analysis for MMA and boxing events, McCarthy returned to his first love and reentered the cage as a referee at Strikeforce “Destruction” in November of 2008. On the eve of his return to MMA as a referee, McCarthy was named the first ever recipient of the World MMA Awards’ Lifetime Achievement accolade, voted on by the sport’s most prestigious journalists.

McCarthy was one of the original authors of the set of mixed martial arts rules and regulations that are utilized today, and is a recognized historian of the sport. His advocacy of the sport has been instrumental in the passage of MMA regulations in numerous states.

McCarthy served as a police officer with the Los Angeles Police Department from 1985 to 2007. McCarthy was awarded his Tactic/Self Defense Instructor Certification by the LAPD on August 12, 1993, and taught until his retirement on September 15, 2007. In his twenty-two years on the force, McCarthy instructed over ten thousand recruits in arrest and control procedures and survival tactics.

In 2007, California state senator James Battin awarded McCarthy with a commendation for his “career accomplishments” in the sport, “for the work he has done to increase the safety, visibility, and importance of mixed martial arts.” In a separate proclamation, the California State Athletic Commission also recognized McCarthy for his “dedication and commitment to other officials in helping developing their skills and concern for athletes.”

McCarthy was inducted into the Masters Hall of Fame in 2006 for his “outstanding achievements in the martial arts” and was the guest speaker at its 2007 gala. In September of 2006, the Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt opened Big John McCarthy’s Ultimate Training Academy (BJMUTA), the first fully functional MMA gym in Valencia, California, where he also teaches. McCarthy drafted a curriculum and testing system for MMA referees and judges, which he unveiled at his first Certified Officials for Mixed Martial Arts National Development (COMMAND) seminar in Valencia on December 1, 2007. The program is the only of its kind in the US.

A pop culture icon, McCarthy has been spoofed in MAD magazine, starred as himself on the NBC series Friends in 1997, and most recently made appearances as himself in a New Found Glory music video and the feature film Slumdog Virgin: The 40-Year-Old Virgin Who Knocked Up Sarah Marshall and Felt Superbad About It, due out in 2010.

Loretta Hunt:

The sport’s most recognizable female journalist, Loretta Hunt has sat cageside at nearly 500 MMA events worldwide and penned over three thousand articles covering all aspects of mixed martial arts. A veteran reporter for nine years, Hunt is also a New York Times best-selling author with UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture for his memoirs Becoming The Natural: My Life In and Out of The Cage, which was released in July of 2008 through Simon and Schuster’s Simon Spotlight imprint.

Hunt is currently the news editor for Sherdog.com, the number-one English-language MMA site in the world. Her articles appear on Sherdog.com and ESPN.com daily with readership in the millions each month. As an on-air correspondent for the site, Hunt often appears in video interviews with the top names in the game.

From 2001 through 2006, Hunt was the lead writer and assistant editor for Full Contact Fighter, the US’s first mixed martial arts publication (est. 1996) and has penned over two thousand published news and feature articles chronicling the sport’s growth around the world.

Hunt has appeared as an on-camera MMA expert for CBS’s The Early Show, A&E’s Biography, HDNet’s Inside MMA, FOX’s The Pulse, CBS’s Sports Central, 20th Century Sports Presents the UFC, Spike TV’s UFC: Unleashed, Showtime’s WFA and EliteXC Countdown shows (numerous episodes) and various independent documentaries.

As an MMA authority, Hunt has been interviewed and quoted by TIME Magazine (September 2005), The New York Times (February 2006, February 2007), and The Los Angeles Times, and is a regular guest on ESPN Radio and others.

Press Release: Big John: UFC referee, “Big” John McCarthy signs book deal with Medallion Press!

Web Site: www.bigjohnmccarthy.com

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