Who is Gary Copeland? U.S. police chief working as MMA referee praised for “fantastic” UFC Atlantic City work after low blow drama

During his younger years, Gary Copeland served as a U.S. Marine and was stationed in Japan from 1984 to 1988. It was during this time that he became interested in competitive martial arts. Today, Copeland serves as both the U.S. police chief and the village manager of Waynesville, a town in North Carolina.

After leaving the U.S. Marine Corps, Copeland established his own martial arts school. He has attained black belts in both Tenchi Itto-Ryu Karate and Isshin-Ryu Karate.

Copeland, an experienced MMA referee with 20 years of experience, stood out among the referees at the UFC Atlantic City event. He was in charge of overseeing the Julio Arce vs. Herbert Burns fight and the Ibo Aslan vs. Anton Turkalj matchup on March 30.

Despite numerous low blows from the Brazilian fighter during the Burns vs. Arce match, Copeland intervened and deducted a point from Burns as a consequence.

In the third round of the Aslan vs. Turkalj match, the UFC newcomer delivered a powerful right hook that sent his opponent to the ground. Aslan then proceeded to end the fight, but Copeland stepped in to prevent Turkalj from sustaining any more harm.

Fans of MMA flocked to social media to express their opinions on Copeland’s performance as a referee during UFC Atlantic City.

A fan praised the referee for issuing a point deduction to Burns for the low blow.

“Bravo to Gary Copeland for being one of the few MMA referees with enough integrity and backbone to actually penalize excessive fouling.”

Another person also expressed the belief that MMA should have referees similar to Copeland.

“Gary Copeland, keep doing what you’re doing. You may not be the referee MMA wants, but you’re the referee MMA deserves.”

According to one user, with officials such as Copeland at the helm, the future of MMA seems to be in capable hands.

“Great ref work here as well, Gary Copeland gave Aslan as much of his time as possible, not pressured to get back in too quick even if the fighter is. Future is in good hands at least from a fighter protecting perspective.”

Take a look at a selection of responses from various sources below: