Big John McCarthy Fight-Worn, Signed Shirt UFC 16 Battle In The Bayou

UFC 16: Battle of in The Bayou was a MMA event held by the UFC on March 13, 1994 at the Pontchartrain Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

UFC 16 featured the first ever UFC Lightweight tournament (for fighters under 170 lb), as well as a Middleweight Championship bout, a Heavyweight and a Middleweight Superfight, and two alternate bouts in case of tournament injury.

It also marked the first appearance of the influential fighter Pat Miletich who would go on to create Miletich Fighting Systems. Tank Abbott is a guest commentator for the Heavyweight Superfight. The Middleweight Championship bout, was billed to be champion Frank Shamrock’s biggest test, in Battlecade star, Igor Zinoviev. This would end up being the final match of Zinoviev’s career, as he suffered a career-ending collarbone injury from Shamrock’s victorious KO slam. Kimo Leopoldo returned to the UFC at UFC 16 and fought top Japanese fighter Tsuyoshi Kohaska. Kimo dominated the first portion of the fight but began to fatigue and eventually lost the fight by decision.

This black shirt was worn by referee Big John McCarthy in the octagon for several of the match-ups in UFC 16. It come’s directly from Big John’s private collection. The manufacturer tagging in the collar shows it is Body Alive [XXL] – the verso also has a custom design from Body Alive. The front chest features the event details – Battle in the Bayo – UFC and Body Alive logo embroidered in white.  For authentication it was autographed on the front in silver paint pen by him with the inscription, “UFC 16 WORN – March 13, 1994.

Authentication: 100% Authentic Team Provenance Letter