Ricardo Demente (middle) alongside Tito Ortiz and Team Punishment crew / Publicity photo

Yet another Brazilian black belt has been showing the transition from Jiu-Jitsu to MMA can be a victorious one.

World runner-up in 2009 and 2010, Ricardo “Demente” Abreu traveled to California, for Fight Club: Rising Stars 2, coming up Friday, Dec. 7, to take on Team Quest’s Wes Swofford in the third fight of the evening.

Demente, who trains under UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz and former Chute Boxe coach Rafael Cordeiro, remains unbeaten in his three-fight MMA career, winning all of them in the first round.

Ricardo commented on his return and revealed some family news that provided him some extra motivation:

“I’m dying to fight. I had a good recovery from the injury that kept me out of BRFC 3 last August, and I’m ready to get back to winning. I want to take another victory home with me to Brazil, to my city to dedicate to my son, who’s about to be born,” said the competitor.

The event Fight Club: Rising Stars 2, featuring “Big John” McCarthy as referee, will go down this Friday in Fountain Valley, Calif.

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Big John in Rio de Janeiro / Photo: Carlos Ozório

Having left the UFC in 2007, with a brief return in 2010, Big John was the California Athletic Commission’s pick to referee the main event in Anaheim. “The UFC was informed that there’s a 99% chance Big John will referee the main event,” Athletic Comission exec George Dodd told MMAJunkie.com.

Now UFC president Dana White issued statements backing Herb Dean as the man for the occasion, because he’s the “best ref in MMA today.”

Big John at Maracanã. Photo: Carlos Ozório

A reference when it comes to MMA refereeing, “Big” John McCarthy may head back to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, where his tenure marked an era.

Removed from the UFC since 2007, McCarthy has a likely date to return  to the most famous fenced-in area in the world. The buzz on message boards across the planet is that the referee should oversee the fights on the UFC on Versus 2 card this coming August 1.

When on his second trip to Brazil, last year, Big John took a tour of the Maracanã stadium with the GRACIEMAG.com team and was given a Flamengo team jersey as a gift. On the occasion, the ref chose not to say much regarding a possible return to the UFC.

“I don’t know yet and I’m not worried about it. I have fun doing what I do and we’ll see what happens.”

Could it be we’ll one day hear the traditional “Are you ready? Let’s get it on!” in the UFC again?

(Collaborator: Junior Samurai)