For MMA officials, anonymity means job well done

The UFC 96 tilt between Matt Brown (facing) and Pete Sell upset many of the 17,000 fans at Nationwide Arena. Courtesy of Zuffa Josh Gross's Mailbag Submit a comment or question for Josh. Name: Email: Hometown: Question: SEND

Had Rick Fike performed perfectly, had he done his job to the best of his ability, mixed martial arts fans would likely have never heard of the Ohio-based referee. Such is the plight of anyone willing to officiate one of the most demanding, fast-paced sports in the world. Do your job well, oversee a fair fight in which both competitors walk out of the cage or ring in nearly the same shape they entered, no one so much as gives you a pat on the back. That Fike's name is known and repeated here should tell you all you need to know about his effort in Columbus, Ohio, on March 7.

Assigned to handle the opening bout of UFC 96, a lightweight contest between granite-chinned Aaron Riley and former "Ultimate Fighter" contestant Shane Nelson, Fike, an Ohio Athletic Commission licensee, got himself out of position, mistook by a large margin the degree to which one fighter had hurt the other and contentiously interceded in a span of 44 seconds.

Almost by definition, refereeing in any arena is not an art of perfection. It is one of competence and consistency, which is why Fike's performance was made to stand out more when experienced referee Yves Lavigne sloppily handled Matt Brown's pummeling of Pete Sell later in the evening, resulting in more than a few "stop the fight!" pleas from some of the 17,000 fans inside Nationwide Arena.

Sell, thankfully, was fine. The state of refereeing in MMA? One can't be so sure.

Two fights. Two awful results. Both examples of the worst officiating in combat sport.

"Being a fighter, there were a couple things I was always petrified of happening," said veteran mixed martial artist Jorge Gurgel, who has refereed more than 1,000 bouts and who watched from cage-side as Fike delivered the "worst call I've ever seen in my life."

Gurgel's concerns, not surprisingly, are rooted in early stoppages, and "having an irresponsible referee" that allows the fight go on too long.

Less than a decade into MMA's existence as a state government-regulated sport, its officiating can be a hit-or-miss proposition. Many of the most influential state regulators, such as Nevada and California, suggest the level of world-class refereeing offered by their licensees is on the rise. But as the sport continues to gain regulation in states across the country, it appears as though the delivery of quality officials has not kept up with the demand.

"Most people who are knowledgeable about both sports would agree that MMA refereeing is much tougher than boxing, which is by no means saying boxing isn't tough duty," says Nevada State Athletic Commission Executive Director Keith Kizer. "It definitely is. But MMA refereeing is a tougher, harder job."

Every official, even those worthy of joining the sport's Hall of Fame, has a horror story to tell about a mistake in the ring. So, too, do the fighters who suffered the effects and the fans who felt robbed.

Even the most revered name in MMA refereeing hasn't gotten a pass. "Big" John McCarthy is as comfortable locked inside a chain-link enclosure with two athletes conditioned for war as he is lounging in his living room. Yet, there he was, in the middle of the biggest blunder of his career during a UFC championship fight in 2002 between Brazil's Murilo Bustamante and wrestler Matt Lindland of the U.S. Caught in an armbar, Lindland appeared to tap out, leading McCarthy to intercede. But when he shouted to stop the fight, Lindland argued he didn't tap, and McCarthy opted to restart the fight, only to see Lindland tap out (guillotine choke) a second and final time.

McCarthy promised himself that he'd never make the mistake of indecisiveness again. So far, he hasn't.

While the sport's variables and frenzied action make mistakes impossible to avoid over a lengthy officiating career, the ability to own the cage should be the first priority for every ref, McCarthy said.

"To be a referee, you have to have common sense and enough integrity and intestinal fortitude to say you don't care what everybody else wants, you go with what's right," said "Big" John, a fixture in the UFC since the organization's second event in 1994, when the notion of rounds or rules were heresy. "You have to be decisive in your actions. When you make a decision, you stick with it. We've all made that mistake of making a decision and trying to change things."