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

MMA referee Gary Copeland serves as U.S. police chief in Ohio and is also the Commissioner for County Veteran Services, a town in North Carolina. During his youth, he enlisted as a U.S. Marine and was part of a unit that served in Japan from 1984 to 1988. During that time, he developed an interest in competitive martial arts.

After parting ways with the U.S. Marine Corps, Copeland opened up his school for martial arts. He has achieved a black belt in Tenchi Itto-Ryu Karate and Isshin-Ryu Karate.

Copeland, who has been refereeing fights for the past 20 years, was a standout amongst the MMA referees working at the UFC Atlantic City event. He oversaw the Julio Arce vs. Herbert Burns bout and the Ibo Aslan vs. Anton Turkalj matchup on March 30.

During the Burns vs. Arce fight, the Brazilian landed multiple low blows on his opponent. This resulted in Copeland stepping in and taking away a point from Burns.

In the third round of the Aslan vs. Turkalj fight, the UFC debutant landed a brutal right hand that knocked his opponent down. Aslan proceeded to finish Turkalj, but Copeland intervened to save the latter from taking further damage.

MMA fans took to social media to share their thoughts on Copeland's refereeing abilities at UFC Atlantic City.

One fan showered praise on the referee for penalizing Burns for the low blow with a point deduction.

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

Another individual shared that the sport of MMA deserved referees like Copeland.

"Gary Copeland, keep doing what you're doing. You may not be the referee MMA wants, but you're the referee MMA deserves."

One user shared that with officials like Copeland, the future of MMA appears to be in good 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."

Check out a compilation of some of the reactions below:

MMA fan react to Gary Copeland's actions at UFC on ESPN54