Justin McCully got himself another chance in my book. He shaved his stupid hair and seems like he toned down the INSANE ONE gimmick. Looked like a humble decently spoken guy in the interview that grew up a lot. Ill chalk his previous boring nature up to inexperience.
You are changing your opinion without seeing him fight? Man, yer gonna feel like a real Jayrebb when he comes out with the Team Punishment "GnP" technique again.
I have flip flopped on a lot of fighters after seeing them seriously make changes to their game. Koscheck probably the most significant. Not totally sold on him, but I am actively looking forward to watching him fight now.
I bring this up because Justin McCully would have to come out and throw nothing but flying knees and axe kicks to turn me around after watching his last fight.
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"The eyes are the groin of the face"
You are changing your opinion without seeing him fight? Man, yer gonna feel like a real Jayrebb when he comes out with the Team Punishment "GnP" technique again.
I have flip flopped on a lot of fighters after seeing them seriously make changes to their game. Koscheck probably the most significant. Not totally sold on him, but I am actively looking forward to watching him fight now.
I bring this up because Justin McCully would have to come out and throw nothing but flying knees and axe kicks to turn me around after watching his last fight.
Well Gonzaga is easy to break, fair to say.
And I think McCully realizes hes next to get cut if he doesnt get a violent finish. He saw how Jake O'Brien (top 10 at the time) was cut.
Either way, whoever loses this fight could be looking at the end of their career in the UFC. People have been cut for way less. Rizzo, Ricco, etc.
I just gained a shred of personal respect for McCully now as a person, whereas before pissing on him was acceptable.
TheGARV: Over the years the sport has evolved and gotten safer and now there are even women fighting. How do you feel about that?
You know what, it's amazing to me that a lot of people don't like the women when it comes to fighting. I have no problem with women fighting as long as they have the skills necessary to get in there. And some of them are incredibly skilled. Looking at Tara Larosa or Gina Carano or someone like that, they're very skilled fighters. Not just women, they're skilled fighters. I love good competition between good fighters and it doesn't matter if they're a man or a woman, I enjoy it. It's funny when I hear they want to put special rules for women. Or change the time limit and stuff. They used to do that in the Olympics long ago. A woman couldn't run, you know, over a 1500 meter race. And then it went to, I think it was like 3000 meters was the max. Are you kidding me? A woman can do anything a man can do as far as physical exertion and cardiovascular. They may not be as physically strong, you know, overall. But they can do anything a man can do. And they can fight. Some fight better than a lot of men, so I enjoy the women.
Have you reffed women's matches?
I've refereed some women's matches and you know what, I enjoyed it. As long as it's good competition, that's what matters to me. I don't like any fight where you have two people in there that don't know what they're doing. And they're really going through motions, trying to do stand up, trying to do ground when you can tell they really don't know what they're doing. I don't care if it's women or men. But if they know what they're doing, I enjoy the fight.
It's obvious you love reffing, but it's such a tough job. There's been a lot of controversy lately and it just seems like reffing is the most thankless job in the world. I mean, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. What's your take?
(Laughs) It is exactly what you just said. You know, Dan Miragliotta has been taking a lot of heat for the last little bit and that's what happens when you start doing the bigger fights. People start to recognize you, especially when you're someone like Dan. Dan's a big guy and he's recognizable. And so they're going to look at him in the ring more than at the other guys. A lot of [refs] look the same, they have the same build and everything. Dan sticks out and so they're going to notice Dan. And you know what? They're always going to have criticisms of referees in fights. And a lot of that is because fifty percent of the people want fighter A and fifty percent of the people want fighter B. And if Dan does something or if I do something or Herb does something that they think went against the fighter that they want, then they're going to say the referee did a bad job. The other fifty percent are saying oh the referee was great. You're never going to make everyone happy. What you want to do is go in, do your job, let the fighters do their job and let them perform the way they can. Hopefully without you having to make any interference in the fight. But if you do, you want to be sure that you're right in what you're doing. Your whole purpose in there is for the fighters' safety. To make sure they come in, do their job and then when they leave that they're going to be able to come back and do it again. If you've done that, you've done your job.
Still it has to be tough to deal with the harsh criticism.
You know, it is tough. It's tough for anybody. It's something you have to learn because there's nobody that likes being criticized. Everybody wants everyone to like them. And it doesn't matter if you're the fighter, the referee, or anybody. It's hard when people start saying things about you that you know aren't true. And they're saying that you did something or are taking money under the table or something like that. Some ridiculous comment. And it's hard. There's really no way for you to respond. So you have to understand, hey, you know what, I go out and do my job and that's the important thing. As long as I know that what I did was right, that's what's important. But you do need people around you, people that will tell you hey, what about this? And you know what, you need the critique every time you do something because that's what makes you better. But as far as people talking on the Internet, there's going to be ones that like you and ones that hate you and you just have to learn to accept it.
Moving on to July's big event. What is your role with Affliction?
My role with Affliction...well, the Fight Network is who I work with and they have a deal with Affliction so I will be commenting the show on July 19th. Before that, back when I was refereeing, I did a deal with Affliction, a sponsorship deal. I wear their clothing and they sponsor me for doing that. So I've always had that relationship with them and now I'll be working on their show on July 19th. And it's a hell of a show and I'm really happy to be part of it.
I know you've reffed in Japan, but have you ever reffed a Fedor fight?
No I've not. Fedor is someone I've never had the privilege of being able to ref one of his matches. I look forward to just being able to commentate one of them because I've enjoyed watching him fight for years. He is phenomenal. You know, no matter what it's the same thing. You can get people to say that he's the greatest ever. And I've heard some people say: Aw, he's not that good, he hasn't fought anyone. If you understand MMA, you understand that Fedor Emelianenko is an incredible fighter. And a guy who has dominated other incredible fighters. He is something special and I can't wait to see him in that fight.
I agree 100 percent. You'd have to be crazy to think that Fedor is not the best heavyweight on the planet right now.
A lot of that comes from, you know, Dana has made comments about Fedor. Dana's a smart guy. He understands what Fedor is. He just runs that. And I really don't think it was Dana's fault that he wasn't able to sign Fedor. They offered Fedor a lot of money. Fedor comes with a lot of, you know, baggage. That's his management's fault, it's not Fedor. The thing is, when you look at the guys that Fedor has fought recently, I don't look at that as Fedor's fault. He will fight anybody. It's his management's fault. His management needs to get him out there. A man only has a certain amount of time to perform at the top level he can perform at. But Dana's made comments about Fedor not being in the top five. Well, if Dana was able to sign him, he would have told you how good Fedor was, the best fighter in the world. Because that's what he is and that's what he deserves to be called. Until somebody takes him and knocks him off of that pedestal, he is the guy. He's lost one fight in his career and that was to a cut that happened in the first fifteen seconds of the fight. No one has beaten the guy. He is a phenomenal fighter, and until someone does, he's number one.
I know that Big Tim Sylvia is hoping to be the guy to do it.
Oh, there's no doubt about that. You know, I think a lot of people don't give Tim credit and think he's gonna get walked through. I don't think Tim's gonna get walked through. Styles make fights. And you look at what Tim does well: Tim's got a very good jab, a super-strong right hand. If he's gonna be able to put that on Fedor, keep him away from him, then he's gonna be able to be successful. Fedor, when he takes people down, he does it a lot of times coming in by throwing punches and getting into a clinch and taking people down. That's gonna be a hard thing for him to do against Tim. I'm not saying that he can't do it, but Tim is very good at stopping people that come at him straight ahead. He usually has problems with guys who come at angles. They'll shoot outside singles on him and drive him in a lateral fashion. Fedor doesn't do that a lot. So it's an interesting match up.
Absolutely. And the rest of the card is amazing as well. Have you ever seen a card this stacked?
You know what, I honestly cannot think...Pride had some really good cards. At times they were filled with about three fights that I'd say were fantastic and then they had some in there that were really for the Japanese public and stuff and so I didn't personally look at them like I wanted to see those. The UFC has had some really good cards. But top to bottom, I'll tell you what. They have the Pride ex-champion. He didn't lost the championship, the promotion went away. They have Arlovski, Barnett and Sylvia, all three of them ex-UFC champions. You have Vitor Belfort in there, who is an ex-UFC champion. You have Matt Lindland, who is still considered one of the top guys at middleweight, and if there's anyone looked at as one of the people who could possibly beat Anderson Silva, Matt Lindland is the name that always comes up. I mean, they have some incredible fights on that card. I don't think I've ever seen a fight card as good.
What do envision for the future of MMA?
You know, I honestly see the future of MMA as very bright. It's still growing, it's still young. There's a whole lot of people out there who are still unsure about it and not understanding it. There's a lot of people in athletic commissions now, I think they're afraid of it. Because they don't understand it. It's not so much they don't like it. But they have to actual govern and make decisions about something they're just not comfortable with. The thing is, as time goes by and they start feeling comfortable with it I think you're gonna see MMA growing. The one thing about [MMA] is everybody understands a fight. It doesn't take a language or a certain of area for people to understand. When two people come together for an MMA match, everybody at least understands what's going on. And so it's a global sport. It's not like the NFL or anything like that, where the NFL is the biggest thing in the states but not in [other countries]. Or hockey, where it's big in Canada but doesn't translate well in other places. Every sport has got it's home grown area but doesn't translate to other nations. Fighting translates to every nation. Everyone gets it. Everyone kind of understands it, even if it might be under different rules or something in certain places. But everyone likes it--the majority like it. There's always going to be someone who doesn't like a fight and that's ok, that's their choice. But it has the potential. You know, Dana saying things about we're gonna be bigger than the NFL, we're gonna be the biggest sport. He's not saying that just to say something. He honestly believes it and you know what, I believe that the sport could be one of the biggest sports in the world. You just gotta give it time to grow.
But sometimes that can be tough, like in NY. These guys have their head up their ass and they pushed out legalizing MMA until at least next year.
Well, you know the New York thing doesn't really have anything to do with MMA. It has to do with politics. The Fertittas own the UFC, the Fertittas own the Station Casinos. They're a non-union casino. And New York, the people that have come out against that bill, it's the unions of New York trying to get at the Fertittas. So does it really have anything to do with MMA? It doesn't. It has to do with politics. And that will all go away and New York will end up legalizing MMA somewhere down the road. And it's gonna be everywhere.
I'm dreaming of the day that there's MMA at Madison Square Garden.
I'll tell you what, it would be a great place to have them.
So you are now retired from reffing. When was your last bout?
My last bout was December 8th of 2007.
Do you miss it already?
Oh, I knew when I was leaving I would miss it. I was walking away from something that I love doing. So it wasn't an easy thing for me to do.
Why did you walk away?
I walked away because I was frustrated. I was frustrated with the way some things were being handled. I didn't believe that there were people being put into positions that had the ability to judge fights or referee fights, that knew what they were doing. That bothered me. It bothered me because I'm looking at a judge that is gonna judge a fighter's fight and he doesn't understand what those fighters are doing. And this person has the ability to affect the fighter's livelihood. And it's wrong. And I felt like a hypocrite because I worked for the commission and they were allowing this kind of person to be in a position of power and to have that say over who's going to win the fight. I just didn't want to be part of that.
Wow.
It just upset me to the point where I didn't want to do this anymore. I love the refereeing. I love doing that. It's just people that are out there, they just don't know what is going on in a fight. Fighters are doing things on the ground, they have no concept of what is taking place. They really don't understand who is in control of the fight. They don't understand the techniques that are being applied. And if you don't understand that, how are you able to make an educated judgment on who wins that fight? You can take a look at the last Ultimate Fight Night. Evan Tanner against Kendall Grove. There was a judge there who gave that fight to Evan Tanner. How do you do that? I don't know. Taking nothing away from Evan, he's a great fighter, but he did not win that fight. And to say he did, it's a crime.
How are these incompetent judges getting their jobs?
You know what, you tell me.
(Both laugh)
That's part of the reason, hopefully what we're trying to do with the ABC is we're trying to get it where you have to have the certification before the commissions can use you. And certification is not easy. I'll be the one doing it. And you're going to have to know what you're looking at [watching] a fight. If you're a professional fighter and spending all of this time getting yourself ready for a fight, then you know what, the judge and the referee should have to spend as much time as you, at least in some fashion, understanding what you do. And if you don't have that, you don't have an equitable situation.
Will we see an return to cage by Big John McCarthy?
You know, when I left I always said that someday I would come back. I never want to close the door because I do love doing it. But it's funny, since I've left I've got more offers to referee than when I was refereeing. I'll end up saying yes to one of them, I just don't know when.
Wow, that was quite an interview. Very informative. Thank you very much, John.
My pleasure.
Quote:
I walked away because I was frustrated. I was frustrated with the way some things were being handled. I didn't believe that there were people being put into positions that had the ability to judge fights or referee fights, that knew what they were doing. That bothered me. It bothered me because I'm looking at a judge that is gonna judge a fighter's fight and he doesn't understand what those fighters are doing. And this person has the ability to affect the fighter's livelihood. And it's wrong. And I felt like a hypocrite because I worked for the commission and they were allowing this kind of person to be in a position of power and to have that say over who's going to win the fight. I just didn't want to be part of that.
Just what I suspected of the judging all along. They all have no clue at what they should be judging.
Wow, that is actually really great to hear that coming from him. I mean all of us who watch these fights know that sometimes the judges are referees make some retarded decisions. And we are left sitting back thinking wtf, how in the hell did they come to that decision? It will be awesome if they get something in place where judges and refs are forced to go through a real training.
Great insight from a veteran ref, you cant just brush that under the rug. I can understand how it must have been hard for him to do his job when there were people over him that had no respect or clue about judging an MMA bout.
Going through some of the stats at Fightmetric you can see what he's talking about. Part of it is the stupid 10pt must system, but more is just clueless judges.
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"The eyes are the groin of the face"
Just watched a nice Igor Vovchanchyn highlight. I miss watching him fight, that dude was full out all the time. Wish he was still fighting, he's not that old. Though I guess 10 years and almost 60 fights will take it out of ya.
Anyways, July 19th UFC card added Dollaway vs. Jesse Taylor.
Also, apparently Jake O'Brien was not cut(or he was brought back), because he's on the same card fighting Cain Velasquez.
Brad Blackburn is on the card too. Nice to see some of the better IFL guys finding new homes. Reese Andy is fighting too, another IFL refugee. He's fighting Brandon Vera in Vera's first fight at 205.
Hermes Franca will be fighting Frankie Edgar, if Franca's reinstatement hearing thing goes good in a week or so. And Anthony Johnson will be fighting on the main card as well. Not even close to sold on him, but he does tend to be fun to watch.
So like 3-4 decent fights and a bunch if relative no names. Enough I'll watch this over the PPV probably. Just because I'm cheap.
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"The eyes are the groin of the face"
Last edited by Grimmlokk : 07-03-2008 at 11:04 AM.
Anyways, July 19th UFC card added Dollaway vs. Jesse Taylor.
Enough I'll watch this over the PPV probably. Just because I'm cheap.
CB Dollaway is gonna fight again that quickly and against the dumb bafoon? Excellent. That was a quick turn around for mr. white to allow him back in the ufc.
You are a cheap ass fuck wad if you are watching the ufc over afflication.
The bars I go to will definitely have the UFC on, and no one I watch with will have any clue WTF Affliction is or who half the people are. And no way I will ever buy a PPV to sit and watch alone. That's sad stuff. So I'll head out, drink a few beers, and watch the Silva fight. Then steal the PPV and burn it when I get home.
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"The eyes are the groin of the face"
06-30-2008, 11:59 AM
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