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“Big” John McCarthy has been informed by the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) that his first assignment since his announcement to return to active duty will be at Strikeforce: “Destruction,” which is set for the HP Pavillion in San Jose, Calif., on November 21.

McCarthy — perhaps the most recognized and respected referee in the history of mixed martial arts — left the sport less than one year ago to work in the announcer’s booth for The Fight Network. He also did the color commentary for Affliction’s inaugural event in July.

Here’s what he had to say about leaving the booth for a return to refereeing via Sherdog.com:

“I missed doing it. 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.”

“Big” John was a staple in the UFC from the early days all the way through until last December. He currently has 535 career matches under his belt.

His return to the Octagon, however, will be out of his control. The athletic commission will determine when and where he is assigned work. But, with his resume and reputation it shouldn’t be long before he’s back in the big show officiating main events.

As far as the Strikeforce: “Destruction” event he’s been assigned to first, company lightweight champion Josh “The Punk” Thomson will defend his title in the main event against Yves Edwards. And Bobby Southworth and Babalu Sobral will duke it out for Southworth’s 205-pound belt in the co-featured fight of the night.

Perhaps McCarthy will get the call in either one of those important bouts.

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Big John McCarthy has said so long to the Fight Network … and it doesn’t sound like it was on the best of terms.

His farewell post is a heartfelt goodbye to the coworkers he’ll miss (including original President/CEO Mike Garrow, color commentator Mauro Ranallo and radio host/producer John Pollock), as well as a big “F” you to “all the higher ups that have taken over the Fight Network over the last year” (okay, so he doesn’t say “F” you, but rather “shame on you” — he is, after all, a family man).

Big John’s departure is just the latest name to leave the network — he joins Loretta Hunt, TFN broadcaster JT McCarthy (no relation), and others — following months of shakeup at the company, which involved new ownership and new management.

His departure will no doubt fuel emerging rumors that the Fight Network could go off the air … and soon. Whatever the case, you might want to read McCarthy’s post while it’s still made available.

And for all you diehard Big John fans out there, this could be the break you’ve been waiting for. He hints at a possible return to refereeing — even at a return to the UFC:

“A few people have said that I have attacked the UFC. That is simply not true. I have never said anything bad about the UFC. I spent 14 years of my life trying to build up the UFC and make people understand how incredible the fighters of MMA were. I considered myself very lucky in the fact that I was able to be around the UFC for as long as I was, and you never know maybe I will go back to refereeing and someday work another UFC.”

Let’s hope he hasn’t burned any bridges with Dana White (even though it is the athletic commissions that choose refs, not the promotions).

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“As I enter a new chapter in my life, I look forward to demonstrating my love and passion for the MMA world in my new role at The Fight Network. It’s a perfect fit for me and I can’t wait to get started.”

That was a quote from perhaps the most well known referee in the history of mixed martial arts — “Big” John McCarthy — this past December announcing his retirement from officiating and his plans to continue his career in the sport through other ventures.

Since that time, McCarthy has been working for The Fight Network, doing the commentary for its coverage of UFC events.

Today, Affliction MMA finally made it official through a press release that “Big” John would also be the color commentator on its broadcast team for Affliction: “Banned” on July 19. He’ll be teamed up beside Mauro Ranallo once again to call the action for one of the most stacked cards ever put together.

There’s no doubt that McCarthy brings a wealth of knowledge to the announcer’s booth. Not only has he refereed 585 fights dating back to UFC: 2 in 1994, but he’s also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. His credentials, along with being one of the most recognized faces in the sport’s young history,speak for themselves.

As long as “Big” John doesn’t all of a sudden go camera shy on us, this should be a winning combination for Affliction.

Affliction: ‘Banned’ will begin at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) on FSN and The Fight Network. The broadcast will run for one hour on those networks before moving directly to PPV. The event will air live from the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., and feature the inaugural WAMMA heavyweight championship fight between Fedor Emelianenko (27-1) and Tim “The Main-iac” Sylvia (24-4).

During a recent episode of Tagg Radio, legendary MMA referee Big John McCarthy turned some heads as he stated that he will be coming back to refereeing some day.

“Big” John McCarthy on his career in Referring:
“I quit reffing because I was disappointed in some of the things that were happening in the sport….I’ve been offered a lot of chances to comeback. I haven’t taken them yet, but yeah, eventually I’ll come back to refereeing because I love it.”

“CB tapped. Herb (Dean) did the right thing in stopping that fight…Amir has caught twice, so he’s got something to go work on.”

TG: “Roy”, Tagg Radio and FightLine

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Big John McCarthy comment’s to the OC Register on the UFC-Affliction Mess.

“I mean, look at that fight. You got your middleweight champion (Anderson Silva), you’re moving up to light-heavyweight to fight James Irvin. What good does that do for him? I mean, (UFC president) Dana (White) feels … obviously he feels there is some competition there with Affliction. He wants to try to do something to damage Affliction. That’s why he is doing this. I look at it and it’s bad for the sport, it’s bad for the fans. There needs to be more than the one promotion.”

“The UFC is the big one on the block. I would never say anything differently until anything really comes about. But to sit there and try to shove a show in on the same date to say come watch. It’s the same thing they did with the Chuck Liddell special (on Spike TV) the same night as the (EliteXC) fights on CBS. It’s like, come on. The sport is big enough to where there can be more than one. There needs to be more than one. The UFC has what 200 fighters signed or 250 fighters? You know what, there are a whole lot more fighters thana that in this world and they need jobs. So there needs to be the other promotions.”

“Thank God, Affliction is doing what they are doing and putting together … honestly, I’m not saying it to say it, it is the best card with heavyweights that has ever been put together by any organization in, at least North America, and probably in the world ever. You’ve got three ex-UFC champions (Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett and Andre Arlovski). You’ve got the ex-PRIDE champion in Fedor (Emelianenko) and you have other guys. You have Matt Lindland, Vitor Belfort, Mike Whitehead against Renato ‘Babalu’ (Sobral). You’ve got some great fights there. It’s going to be a hell of a card. Go and watch the one live and TiVo the UFC show. That’s what I’m going to do. I will TiVo the UFC show.”

TG: BloodyElbow

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Big John McCarthy’s Ultimate Training Academy in Valencia, Calif., will host an open casting call on Monday, June 22 at 1 p.m. local time for a new reality show titled, “MMA Legacy.”

The idea behind the show is to give fans a behind the scenes look at the day-to-day lives of the people involved in mixed martial arts, whether it’s established up-and coming fighters, models and ring girls, and anyone else involved with the business side of the sport.

Jason Chambers — the host of the History Channel’s reality show “Human Weapon” — will be the executive producer of the show. Here are his thoughts on what exactly they’re looking for at the casting call:

“This isn’t a competitive fight show like ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ where fighters compete for a fight contract, it’s a personality driven show about people with MMA as a backdrop that provides a common thread. We need interesting people with engaging personalities because we’ll be following them around for three to four weeks to capture their story. We intend to show them at work, on dates, as well as training.”

Sounds interesting.

Owned Entertainment, Jac’d Productions and International MMA Expo are the masterminds behind this concept. You will need a current photo of yourself as well as a completed audition application if you intend to appear at the casting call.

For more information click here.

First, a big thanks to everyone expressed support during the “State of 5 Oz.” address yesterday. Reading all those positive comments was awesome.   Also, I wanted to give everyone a quick heads up that my latest column on CBSSports.com is now available, and it’s a great read! I recently had the chance to speak with former long-time [...]