By Mike Chiappetta
- Senior Writer
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<! mediaid=3206155 AP: img hspace="4" vspace="4" border="1" align="right" src="" alt="" /> After a return to the UFC octagon officiating three bouts during the
UFC on Versus 2 event this past weekend, popular veteran referee "Big" John McCarthy will not be a presence at the upcoming
UFC 117.
A California state athletic commission representative confirmed to MMA Fighting that McCarthy has not been assigned to referee any fights for the upcoming pay-per-view, which takes place on Aug. 7 from Oracle Arena in Oakland.
The same commission assigned McCarthy to work on UFC on Versus 2, which emanated from San Diego.
On Sunday night, McCarthy was the third man in the cage for two prelims, watching over Brian Stann as he tapped out Mike Massenzio with a triangle choke, and also overseeing Jacob Volkmann's decision win over Paul Kelly. On the main card, he presided over Yushin Okami's decision over Mark Munoz.
It was the veteran ref's first appearance in the octagon since Dec. 2007.
McCarthy's presence on the card was only mentioned in passing during the Versus telecast, when he was announced as the ref of the Okami-Munoz fight by ring announcer Bruce Buffer, and later mentioned in commentary by play-by-play man Mike Goldberg.
The 6-foot-4, 240-pounder was considered one of the best referees in MMA history before announcing what turned out to be a brief retirement in '07. Shortly thereafter, while working as an analyst with the Canada-based Fight Network, he made waves with some of his analysis of the fight business. After leaving that post and announcing an intention to return to refereeing, the once-omnipresent McCarthy has seen limited opportunities in the cage.
Despite being passed over for UFC 117, McCarthy remains in the mix for future California events.
Meanwhile, according to Nevada state athletic commission executive director Keith Kizer, McCarthy remains unlicensed in the state of Nevada, though his application remains on file. The commission prefers to keep a limited number of licensed officials, and very rarely adds additional refs to the roster.
The seven referees currently licensed in the state include Herb Dean, Steve Mazzagatti, Mario Yamasaki, Josh Rosenthal, Yves Lavigne, Kim Winslow and Chris Tognoni.
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