MMA’s first referee, John McCarthy, will make his return to the Octagon this Sunday at UFC on Versus 2 in San Diego. It has been two and a half years since the last time he officiated a fight for UFC (the last being the main event of the “The Ultimate Fighter Season 6” finale, Roger Huerta vs. Clay Guida, in December 2007).
The California State Athletic Commission confirmed that McCarthy would be officiating at this weekend’s event, alongside Herb Dean and Jason Herzog. None of the referees have been assigned to specific bouts as of the time of publication. [Source: MMAWeekly]
McCarthy is a pioneer in mixed martial arts refereeing, having started his career at UFC 2 in 1994. After leaving refereeing, he took up a position as an analyst for The Fight Network for a short time while he started a referees and judges training program, before returning to officiating at a Strikeforce event in late 2008. McCarthy is still licensed to referee in the state of California and had to re-file an application to regain licensure in the state of Nevada.
[Photo: Round5.com]
