John McCarthy News

Adam Martin - May 26, 2020

Veteran MMA official Big John McCarthy explained why the UFC prefers to use a smaller cage whenever possible, saying it creates more action. The UFC typically uses a 30-foot cage at its big pay-per-views and big ESPN events at arenas but tends to use a 25-foot cage for its Fight Night cards. It also used the smaller cage on The Ultimate Fighter and it uses the 25-foot-cage at the new UFC Apex for the Contender Series and the Fight Night events taking place there in the next two months.

Tom Taylor - May 5, 2020

Veteran MMA referee turned Bellator commentator John McCarthy believes the UFC’s second stab at promoting UFC 249 will be a success. UFC 249 was originally expected to go down in Las Vegas on April 18. As the coronavirus crisis took hold, however, the card was briefly relocated to the Tachi Palace Casino on the same date, and ultimately canceled altogether.

Tom Taylor - April 13, 2020

Veteran MMA referee John McCarthy believes the top dogs at Disney and ESPN asked UFC President Dana White to cancel UFC 249 because they were concerned about the optics of going ahead with the event during a public health crisis. McCarthy weighed in on the cancelation of the card, which was most recently expected to go down at the Tachi Palace Casino on tribal land in California on April 18, on his Weighing In podcast.

Natasha Hooper - April 8, 2020

MMA judges are refining their skills with the help of referee Big John McCarthy, as they rejudge the controversial UFC 247 Jones vs Reyes fight. Judges competency is a common cause of contention in the evergrowing sport. MMA professionals such as Joe Rogan and Dominick Cruz have slammed judges for inaccurate point-scoring. During UFC 247 in February 2020, Rogan accused one of the judges of not watching, and blasted their scorecards for the closely contested Jon Jones vs Dominick Reyes bout. Jones claimed the decision victory, but UFC president Dana White revealed that he scored the UFC 247 main event in favor of Reyes.

Harry Kettle - March 30, 2020

Veteran referee John McCarthy has given fans his thoughts on the recent arrest of UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones. The incident involving Jones in Albuquerque has been discussed to death by the mixed martial arts community, with the general consensus being that “Bones” probably needs to get some help before things continue to escalate.

Natasha Hooper - March 25, 2020

With the looming threat of Coronavirus causing everybody to isolate themselves, BJPENN.com has curated a list of the top MMA podcasts for you to listen to (in no particular order). Now, you can fill your brain with an unlimited stream of MMA information and keep boredom at bay.

Adam D Martin - March 22, 2020

Legendary MMA referee Big John McCarthy recently explained the proper way to judge an MMA fight, using Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero as an example. McCarthy is the most experienced official in mixed martial arts and was instrumental in the creation of the Unified Rules of MMA and the judging criteria for the sports. Since retiring from officiating a few years ago, McCarthy currently works as a commentator for Bellator and also hosts the “Weighing In” podcast with former UFC lightweight Josh Thomson.

Adam Martin - March 9, 2020

Bellator commentator and MMA official John McCarthy believes that there should have been a 10-10 round scored in the Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero title fight at UFC 248. Adesanya won a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards to retain the UFC middleweight title in an undeniable stinker of a fight. Neither man seemed to be aggressive in the fight and it just plodded on for 25 minutes. Adesanya won the decision and gets to retain his belt, but it was not particularly impressive. Still, McCarthy agrees with Adesanya earning the decision.

Natasha Hooper - March 5, 2020

Former referee Big John McCarthy believes Dana White owes him a thank you — maybe even some butt-kissing. McCarthy has been instrumental in overseeing MMA fights since the sport’s early days. He made his officiating debut in the UFC at the promotion’s second show, all the way back 1994. Since then, he has gone on to referee iconic bouts including Conor McGregor vs. Jose Aldo, the shortest title bout in UFC history.

Natasha Hooper - March 2, 2020

Referee Big John McCarthy has re-launched his COMMAND Course in hopes of improving MMA refereeing and nurturing the next generation of talent. Though he is now retired from officiating, John McCarthy is widely regarded as one of the best referees in MMA. Industry experts including Joe Rogan have praised his aptitude as a ref and his dedication to the sport.

Natasha Hooper - March 2, 2020

Referee royalty, Big John McCarthy is less than impressed with the referee’s controversial ruling in the Ion Cutelaba vs Magomed Ankalaev bout at UFC Norfolk. Last weekend, the light heavyweight fight already got off to a strange start when Cutelaba walked across the canvas to bump into his Russian opponent. Security entered to separate the two parties, and the bad blood spilt over into the fight.

Christopher Taylor - February 17, 2020

Referee John McCarthy believes there is just “something completely different” about Diego Sanchez following last weekend’s UFC event in Rio Rancho. The UFC legend, Sanchez, picked up a disqualification victory over Michel Pereira in front of a home crowd in New Mexico Saturday night.

Natasha Hooper - January 31, 2020

This week on his Weighing In podcast, Josh Thomson announced his official retirement from fighting. “I can say that I’m officially retired,” Thomson began.

Tom Taylor - January 28, 2020

Former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub recently claimed that all the best fighters are on the UFC roster. Unsurprisingly, this comment generated a torrent of backlash — including a retort from MMA referee turned Bellator commentator John McCarthy. Hear what McCarthy had to say about Schaub’s claim below (via Twitter):

Adam Martin - January 9, 2020

Long-time MMA analyst Jimmy Smith criticized Bellator commentator Big John McCarthy for his recent comparison between Michael Page and Anderson Silva. McCarthy has come under scrutiny for his recent comments comparing the early careers of the two. Many fans believe that Bellator has given Page a mostly easy road so far, but McCarthy said that Page’s first 18 career bouts match up well with the first 18 fights that Silva had, despite the evidence suggesting Silva’s road was tougher. Smith saw McCarthy’s comments and said that he does not agree with him.

Adam Martin - January 6, 2020

Bellator color commentator and long-time MMA referee Big John McCarthy explained why he believes UFC president Dana White is against cross-promotion. Bellator recently did a cross-promotion event with RIZIN for New Year’s Eve which McCarthy was a big part of as the event’s announcer. Bellator president Scott Coker is someone who is a big fan of cross-promotion, and has in the past said he would like to do an event pitting Bellator fighters against UFC fighters. However, White has had no interest at all in doing such a thing.

Adam Martin - November 7, 2019

Veteran MMA referee and Bellator color commentator John McCarthy believes the UFC 244 main event between Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal was stopped too soon by the doctor. Speaking on the ‘Weighing In’ podcast, McCarthy was asked by host Josh Thomson what he thought about the controversial doctor stoppage at UFC 244. This is what McCarthy had to say.

Mike Heck - October 21, 2019

Legendary referee John McCarthy is weighing in on “Inhalergate” following the overturning of Greg Hardy’s unanimous decision win at UFC Boston. At Friday night’s event at the TD Garden, Hardy went the distance for the very first time in his MMA career as he picked up a victory over the debuting Ben Sosoli. As interesting as it was to see Hardy get to a third round, one of the biggest stories of the event came between the second and third rounds when Hardy asked and, seemingly, was given permission to use an inhaler on the stool.