UFC 127
Acer Arena Sydney 27th February 2011
The UFC came to Australia for their second event in as many years and once again the NSW Combat Sports Authority and the UFC called on the MMAOA to supply and organize most of the officials for this prestigious event.
The MMAOA officials consisted of Referees Steve Perceval and John Sharp, Judge Evan Bzadough, Time Keeper Brett Hinde and Fight Room Officials (Inspectors) Greg Kleynjans, Charlie Keech, Daniel Villanueva, Shane Berwick, Todd Rassmussen, Cory Harris, Cris Shen and Anthony Dimitriou.
The UFC also flew in referees Herb Dean, Mark Goddard and Leon Roberts along with USA Judges Chris Lee and Sal D’Amanto, UK Judge Paul Sutherland and UK inspectors Mark Bennett and Aaron Weaver for UFC 127.
This year the UFC chose to give Steve and John 3 fights each to referee (one on the main card and two preliminary fights). This demonstrates the confidence that the UFC has in the capability of Steve and John as world class MMA referees. Steve said “once again it was a great honor to work for the UFC and in particular on a card filled with so many great Aussie fighters and in front of the amazing Aussie MMA fans, it was a fantastic experience.
Steve said that the MMAOA are producing world class officials who perform their duties and responsibilities with a professional none bias attitude.
Steve has high standards for himself and all his officials; he was very impressed with the conduct and performance of all the MMAOA officials who worked on the day.
Steve would like to thank Craig Waller from the Dept Sport and Recreation, the CSA (Combat Sports Authority) and of course the Marc Ratner from the UFC for giving him and his team the wonderful opportunity to work on the Australian UFC.
MMAOA accreditation course recognized by the Combat Sports Authority
Steve has been working closely with the Dept Sport and Rec and the Combat Sports Authority to bring legitimacy to the sport of MMA in the state of NSW. Steve has had several meetings with the Dept of Sport and Rec and Combat Sports Authority in an attempt to make MMAOA MMA Officials training course a prerequisite before any official may be registered as an MMA referee, judge or fight room inspector.
An Official letter was received from the Combat Sorts Authority of NSW stating that as of 4th November 2010 successful completion of the MMAOA training course as a Referee or Judge will be an acceptable qualification for registration by the Combat Sports Authority on NSW.
UFC 110
Steve Perceval the founder and head trainer of the MMAOA (MMA Officials Australia) made his UFC debut as a referee on UFC 110 in Australia on the 21st February 2010.
Steve made history by becoming the first Australian ever to referee a UFC, and he was privileged to do it in front of a capacity crowd in his home country.
The UFC flew out two other referees Josh Rosenthal and UFC veteran referee Herb Dean, along with three elite judges. Steve was also asked to supply another referee, 2 judges and 4 fight room inspectors from the MMAOA for this prestigious event.
Steve gladly accommodated by supplying experienced officials from his organization John Sharp the other Aussie referee, Kon Pappy & Evan Bzadough as judges and Tim Seirlis, Charlie Keech, Hemerson Garcia & Greg Kleynjans as fight room inspectors and Anthony Dimitriou as the time keeper.
It was a great honor for Steve to not only work on the UFC himself but to also supply a team of officials which he trained and works with regularly.
Steve maintains that his officials are the most professional well trained officials in the country; we constantly review our performances and work hard to eliminate mistakes before they happen.
Steve would like to thank his officials for the good job they did during UFC 110, which was reinforced after the show in a meeting with UFC Vice President Marc Ratner.
Steve is confident that when the UFC returns to Australia they will retain the officials from the MMAOA.
Steve would also like to thank Craig Waller and Tony Batten from the Dept Sport and Recreation and of course the UFC for giving him and his team the wonderful opportunity of officiating the first Australian UFC.
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There is a new sheriff in town and its name is the Combat Sports Authority.
The new Combat Sports Act 2008 and Regulations have been passed through the NSW Government making it law as of the 1st October 2009.
The new Act does not only apply to MMA as many believe but to all combat orientated competitions and the competitors. Every combat orientated competition or tournament including Boxing, Kick Boxing, Muah Thai, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to name just a few will be affected by this Act.
All competitions, tournaments, promoters, officials, referees, judges and competitors will need to be registered with the Combat Sports Authority prior to the event being held, initially this will seem like a logistic nightmare but as we learn to understand the requirements and procedures the system will become a regular part of any and all competitions.
At this stage the Authority is working on setting all the guidelines and regulations for everyone to follow and as I understand it nothing will change until the 1st January 2010 but make no mistake The Combat Sports Act 2008 is already law and will have an impact on every combat sport code in NSW.
The Combat Sports Authority and the new Combat Sports Act 2008 has been put in place to create a safe and fair environment to protect all competitors, promoters will have strict guidelines and regulations to follow and will be forced to use only qualified, well trained officials from recognized organizations.
Steve Perceval and his organization the MMAOA has been at the forefront of implementing a lot of the rules and regulations which are the same as those now used by the Combat Sports Authority, this was in an effort to bring standards and professionalism to the sport of MMA and its promoters.
The MMAOA are also responsible for producing high quality, professional MMA officials who have an in depth knowledge of the rules and regulations, this is the only way fairness and fighter safety can be guaranteed.
Steve is working toward his organization the MMAOA becoming the recognized body which train and accredit all officials as a prerequisite for registration as a Referee, Judge, Official or Sports Combat Inspector.
Our great Nation has a reputation of producing elite athletes in all sporting arenas and by legalizing MMA and creating a set of standards and guidelines for everyone to follow, I am confident that we will soon be producing even more world standard MMA fighters.