Female ref commands respect in center of cage

Mixed martial arts fans are accustomed to seeing the same faces in the referee rotation on major cards, but a new official stood out on the World Extreme Cagefighting event at the Hard Rock Hotel.

Kim Winslow, a Reno resident who officiated two fights on Sunday's card, is believed to be the only professional female MMA referee in the United States.

In a sport that runs on pure testosterone, Winslow said she has felt easily accepted.

"They've always been very respectful," she said of the fighters. "You set that up in your prefight meetings, so it's not like the first time they see you is in the cage. You let them know this is not my first fight. In fact I've probably done more fights than they've been in. I've never had a problem."

Winslow officiated many amateur fights and is sanctioned in several states, including New Jersey and Oregon.

While she has worked several cards, including some with greater attendance, Sunday marked the most-viewed event Winslow has worked. It aired live nationally on Versus.

Winslow, a former air traffic controller, became interested in MMA during the early days of the sport.

"I started out training and I've been a fan since it started airing. I've watched it evolve from the beginning," she said.

She feels the rules and attention to detail in her previous career helped make the transition to officiating fairly smooth.

• EMELIANENKO OUT -- The poster for Affliction's second MMA card debuted on the promotion's Web site Monday without an expected face.

Fedor Emelianenko, widely regarded as the world's top heavyweight, was absent from the poster and will not appear on the Oct. 11 card at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Emelianenko was to take on Andrei Arlovski in the main event, but has been sidelined by a hand injury sustained in his victory over Tim Sylvia.

It was pretty much the only type of injury Emelianenko could have suffered in the bout. He did nothing but land solid punches before finishing Sylvia with a choke only 36 seconds into the bout.

Arlovski will instead take on Josh Barnett in a fight that likely will determine the top contender for Emelianenko's World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts heavyweight title.

• TRAGIC TURN -- There is tragic news resulting from Quinton Jackson's apparent mental breakdown on a Southern California freeway last month.

According to the Daily Pilot newspaper of Newport Beach, Calif., a miscarriage was suffered last week by a woman who was driving one of several vehicles struck by the former Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight king.

Holli Griggs, 38, was 16 weeks pregnant. According to the newspaper, prosecutors in Costa Mesa have yet to file any charges in the case and would not comment further. Griggs and her fiancé have hired an attorney, but have yet to take legal action against Jackson.

• ODD COUPLE -- Stereo Vision Entertainment, Inc. has announced a film project called "Kung-Fu U," which will co-star Hulk Hogan and undefeated EliteXC heavyweight Kimbo Slice.

The proposed 3D film, targeted for a fall 2009 release, will be a children's movie about rich kids who get shipped off to a boarding school where Slice and Hogan teach self-defense.