Big John McCarthy, the best-known referee in the history of mixed martial arts, is ending his hiatus and getting back into the cage.
Sherdog reports that McCarthy, who quit refereeing to become an MMA commentator, will work the Strikeforce Destruction show on November 21 in San Jose.
"I missed doing it," McCarthy said of working as a ref. "Sometimes when you walk away from something and you think it's time, once you're away you realize what you're missing -- it's kind of like why guys come back to fighting. It's what I like doing. It's what I was meant to do."
A former Los Angeles cop who was the ref at UFC 2 and in more than 500 fights thereafter, McCarthy has sought and received a new refereeing license from several state athletic commissions. Some people in the MMA community have suggested that his critical comments about certain fighters and promotions could make it difficult for him to return to the cage, but it's ultimately up to the athletic commissions -- not the promotions -- to choose the refs, and McCarthy is well qualified.
Strikeforce Destruction will air on HDNet. Here's the lineup as it currently stands:
Strikeforce Lightweight Title fight:
Josh Thomson vs. Yves Edwards
Strikeforce light-heavyweight title fight:
Bobby Southworth vs. Renato "Babalu" Sobral
Joe Riggs vs. Luke Stewart
Kim Couture vs. Lina Kvokov
Lemont Davis vs. Brian Schwartz
Brad Royster vs. Darren Uyenoyama
Tony Johnson vs. Eric Lawson
Alvin Cacdac vs. Jose Palacios
Bobby Stack vs. Cyrillo Padilha
Zakary Bucia vs. Jaime Rodriguez
Kurt Osiander vs. Raul Castillo
Nik Theotikos vs. Luke Rockhold
Big John McCarthy Will Return as a Ref at Strikeforce Destruction November 21 originally appeared on MMA FanHouse on Tue, 04 Nov 2008 23:34:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
