There are very few in the pantheon of professional sports who have become famous not for their participation in the competitive side of things, but for their efforts put forth to make sure the sport is safe and fair. One such person who has found fame in combat sports without ever having thrown a punch or locked in a submission, is the highly recognizable Big John McCarthy.

Eventually going on to help draft what would become the official Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts, Big John first entered the consciousness of mixed martial arts fans way back at UFC 2. It was there he first served as third man in the ring, mostly due to his association with the Gracie family, particularly Rorion Gracie, with whom Big John had spent some years training Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

One of the reasons Big John had been dedicating himself to learning the Gracie’s self-defense system was that he held a job that was far more dangerous than being locked in a cage with two men trained to destroy each other. Young John McCarthy, like his father before him, was a police officer.

Before ever dreaming he would one day make his living from inside an octagonal steel cage, Big John was a member of the Los Angeles Police Department during a time in which tensions were at an all-time high between police and the people they’d been tasked with protecting.

In this video, Big John McCarthy discusses his experience during the L.A. Riots and we catch a brief glimpse of the young, fresh faced police officer in action.

Jeff Warsaw is the former executive editor of Long Island MMA Magazine, professional combat sports public address announcer for several NY/NJ MMA and kickboxing promotions, and a proud one-stripe white belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under the famed Joe D’Arce. He is currently a musician, coffee enthusiast and host of the Stranger In A Strange Land podcast on YouTube.