Big John McCarthy UFC Referee

I had the honor of being commissioned to paint the former UFC Referee Big John McCarthy. The painting they wanted me to create was of a famous UFC 71 fight between Chuck Liddell and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. They submitted a photograph of Big John McCarthy stopping the fight between the two fighters to use as a reference. They gave me creative liberties in how I approached the event and portrayed the crowd. Essentially this was an iconic fight in history and Big John has played a huge roll in the history of the Ultimate Fighter. I needed to make this monumental moment come to life, I needed to make you feel the event, to hear the crowd coming to life as Big John jumps in to protect a champion who has just succumbed to his challengers blows. The original painting is 30″ x 40″ acrylic on museum-quality canvas that was delivered to Big John McCarthy.