The referees job in the cage is to protect the fighters, make sure the fight is kept fair, and to be another set of eyes for the judges scoring the fight. In some recent fights, there have been questionable calls and stoppages made by the referees. One of the fights that I saw at UFC 102 that should have been stopped immediately, was Leben vs Rosholt. Rosholt had Leben in a triangle arm choke and it clearly appeared that Leben was trying to tap out. Unfortunately, referee Yves Lavigne did not stop the fight immediately and Leben was choked unconscious with his body beginning to shake.
The point being made is that when it comes to responsible officiating, there are only a few referees that get the job done properly, with McCarthy being one of them. Fighters need referees in the cage that are well trained and know "when to say when". If there are not more good referees like McCarthy employed in the UFC, it definitely could lead to a fighter being hurt permanently. There needs to be better training for MMA officiating crews so that each referee is trained the same and can better protect the fighters inside of the cage.
