Big John McCarthy just mentioned this on his podcast when Josh Thomson mentioned if he hadn’t chose to be a MMA fighter, he was going to enlist in the Air Force.
Mark Smith was an F16 Pilot with the United States Air Force Thunderbirds. His career went from Thunderbird Pilot to White House Fellow and Special Assistant to the Director of NASA, to F16 advanced combat tactics trainer, to Southwest Airlines Pilot and then UFC Referee.
White House Fellow, Ambassador & leading representative for the Air Force. Director of Operations, combat experienced F-16 Instructor/Evaluator Pilot, with over 2500 F-16 hours. Extensive public speaking record and solid foundation in worldwide recruiting for the Air Force and NASA. Highly experienced in supporting White House, NASA, Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs Public Relations. Budget Management, HR (hiring and Manning) and senior level presentations and briefings.
not sure what being a pilot or someone’s job or career has to do with mixed martial arts or being a referee at all though?
mark smith isn’t that good of a referee to begin with and in no way does someone’s job or career outside of the sport mean they are a qualified to become an mma official.
wasn’t kim winslow an air traffic controller in her career? super difficult job and she was a terrible referee. who cares about what people do outside of the cage or ring that does not pertain to mma. inside the cage is what matters most and mark’s overall performance is subpar at best.
instead, id love to hear about mark smith’s previous training or his prior martial arts instructors, where he trained before he began refereeing rather than this persons past credentials?
maybe this individual is trying to hype up his military career to distract everyone because he lacks the martial arts training and has little martial arts experience so he wants people to praise his flying or military career instead
Thats pretty fuckin badass, how isnt this better known?
Very true. To their credit, I see Bloody Elbow covered it in 2014 but I don’t visit that website and never remembered seeing anything about it on these forums.
Being a Thunderbird is a big deal. And super badass! I have a new level of respect for Mark. Being a F-16 pilot, let alone a f’n Thunderbird is way more crazy and “tougher” than anything in MMA, imo.
Rob Collins - not sure what being a pilot or someone's job or career has to do with mixed martial arts or being a referee at all though?
mark smith isn’t that good of a referee to begin with and in no way does someone’s job or career outside of the sport mean they are a qualified to become an mma official.
wasn’t kim winslow an air traffic controller in her career? super difficult job and she was a terrible referee. who cares about what people do outside of the cage or ring that does not pertain to mma. inside the cage is what matters most and mark’s overall performance is subpar at best.
instead, id love to hear about mark smith’s previous training or his prior martial arts instructors, where he trained before he began refereeing rather than this persons past credentials?
maybe this individual is trying to hype up his military career to distract everyone because he lacks the martial arts training and has little martial arts experience so he wants people to praise his flying or military career instead
You are correct it has nothing to do with MMA. But that’s not the point. Mark’s career as a fighter pilot highlights the type of person he is outside of the cage. And it is very honorable, imo.
Yeah, well I once flew a paper airplane perfectly through my girlfriends legs... and it wouldn’t have taken me 12 unanswered shots to stop the Drew Dober vs Haqparast fight.
Rob Collins - not sure what being a pilot or someone's job or career has to do with mixed martial arts or being a referee at all though?
mark smith isn’t that good of a referee to begin with and in no way does someone’s job or career outside of the sport mean they are a qualified to become an mma official.
wasn’t kim winslow an air traffic controller in her career? super difficult job and she was a terrible referee. who cares about what people do outside of the cage or ring that does not pertain to mma. inside the cage is what matters most and mark’s overall performance is subpar at best.
instead, id love to hear about mark smith’s previous training or his prior martial arts instructors, where he trained before he began refereeing rather than this persons past credentials?
maybe this individual is trying to hype up his military career to distract everyone because he lacks the martial arts training and has little martial arts experience so he wants people to praise his flying or military career instead
Rob Collins - not sure what being a pilot or someone's job or career has to do with mixed martial arts or being a referee at all though?
mark smith isn’t that good of a referee to begin with and in no way does someone’s job or career outside of the sport mean they are a qualified to become an mma official.
wasn’t kim winslow an air traffic controller in her career? super difficult job and she was a terrible referee. who cares about what people do outside of the cage or ring that does not pertain to mma. inside the cage is what matters most and mark’s overall performance is subpar at best.
instead, id love to hear about mark smith’s previous training or his prior martial arts instructors, where he trained before he began refereeing rather than this persons past credentials?
maybe this individual is trying to hype up his military career to distract everyone because he lacks the martial arts training and has little martial arts experience so he wants people to praise his flying or military career instead
Smith seems like a nice enough guy that tries hard. Him and Chris Tognoni (not sure on the spelling) seem like they both benefit from the outside referees Nevada brings in.
I’m not saying they are bad, or that Smith’s life before becoming a referee wasn’t interesting. Just if you wanted to compare him to a Dean, McCarthy, Goddard, Herzog, Peterson as a referee he isn’t even in the conversation.
On 6 August 1969, a sonic boom from a nearby air show broke a quarter million dollars worth of glass, injuring six people. It was caused by a member of America's Blue Angels during a practice routine for the Kelowna Regatta festival; the pilot accidentally broke the sound barrier while flying too low.