“Big” John Mccarthy
I’ve been watching the UFC since its very first event back in 1993 and Big John has been around since the very beginning. While he’s never had a professional MMA fight, Mccarthy is a legitimate Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt and has been refereeing events for the UFC for a quarter of a century.
Aside from being UFC royalty, Big John has been instrumental in getting the sport out of the stone ages and developing unified rules to make it the international success it is today. Having been around since the sport’s inception, Big John is perhaps the original cop connection to the sport of MMA.
Following in his father’s footsteps, Big John put in 22 years with the Los Angeles Police Department and retired in 2007. He began his foray into martial arts in 1993 when he became a certified Tactics and Self Defense Instructor for the LAPD in 1993 and continued instructing until his last day with the department. Imagine learning defensive tactics at the police academy from a man whose name is synonymous with the UFC. I’m jealous just thinking about it.
Policing clearly runs blue in the Mccarthy family bloodline. His son Ronald patrols the streets to this day.
Check out this video of Big John telling a reporter, “Grab as many as you can. That’s all you can do” while serving as a Corporal during the LA riots of ’92 here.
