Sherdog’s Top 10: Best MMA Referees

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Top 10: Best MMA Referees

2. John McCarthy

“Big John” is synonymous with officiating MMA bouts. He’s been the UFC’s head official since UFC 2 and he’s become the most iconic referee in the history of the sport. His “Let’s get it on!” catchphrase at the start of every fight may have been lifted from the late, great Mills Lane, but nobody cares about that sort of stuff.

McCarthy is always in control of the action, and his forceful ways have earned him the respect of every fighter who has ever stepped foot before him. He’s officiated hundreds of UFCs, even more non-UFC events, and the number of actual fights he’s officiated numbers in the thousands.

McCarthy is the long-running standard to which all MMA referees should adhere. You name the fighter and McCarthy has been his referee. His legacy as the best third man was so powerful that Sherdog.com’s former editor-in-chief Loretta Hunt wrote his biography. But, as great as he has been for over 25 years, there still is one man who stands alone at the top.

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