John McCarthy News

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.

Cole Shelton - December 6, 2019

John McCarthy believes Tony Ferguson is going to be a tough opponent for Khabib Nurmagomedov. The two have been booked to fight each other on April 18 in Brooklyn, New York. McCarthy believes Nurmagomedov won’t be able to mentally or physically break Ferguson, so he has to adjust his gameplan.

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.

Harry Kettle - October 16, 2019

Bellator broadcaster and former referee John McCarthy recently had a heated exchange with ESPN journalist Ariel Helwani on social media. McCarthy and Helwani are both considered to be well-known figures within the world of mixed martial arts and have been for years now, and as such, many fans hold a lot of value in their opinions.

Tom Taylor - May 12, 2019

On Saturday night, in the main event of UFC 237, Jessica Andrade claimed the UFC flyweight title by knocking out the champion Rose Namajunas with a brutal slam. Unfortunately, the knockout generated some controversy, as some fans felt the slam was illegal. Speaking on Twitter in the wake of UFC 237, veteran MMA referee “Big” John McCarthy gave his take on this dramatic knockout victory from Jessica Andrade. He did his best to dispel any controversy, assuring the new champ’s victory was absolutely clean.

Tom Taylor - March 3, 2019

On Saturday night, on the main card of UFC 235, former ONE Championship and Bellator titleholder Ben Askren finally made his UFC debut, taking on the extremely dangerous Robbie Lawler. Although Askren very nearly found himself on the receiving end of a first-round TKO, he ultimately weathered this early storm from Lawler and submitted the former UFC champion with a bulldog choke later in the round.

Tom Taylor - December 16, 2018

The UFC’s outfitting deal with sports apparel giant Reebok is frequently criticized by fans, fighters, and pundits alike. Not only does this deal deprive fighters of the chance to pursue more lucrative sponsorship deals for themselves, it also deprives them have the chance to dress up during their walkouts and set themselves apart from their peers. Veteran MMA referee John McCarthy is glad this isn’t the reality in Bellator, where he now serves as a cage-side commentator. Speaking during Saturday’s Bellator Hawaii broadcast, as former UFC light heavyweight champ Lyoto Machida walked out for his Bellator debut, John McCarthy explained how pleased he was to see Machida walking out in his traditional karate gi rather than Reebok gear.

Tom Taylor - August 20, 2018

https://twitter.com/BrMassami/status/1031350697084649472 Want to see some really bad MMA officiating? Like really, really bad? Watch the video above. This baffling referee disaster occurred at Daredevil Fight 13 inside the Ginasio Duduzao in Bauru, Brazil on Saturday night (h/t Dario Ferrari).

Tom Taylor - June 25, 2018

Veteran referee “Big” John McCarthy, who now works as a commentator for Bellator MMA, is adamant that there are plenty of world-class fighters outside of the UFC roster. McCarthy got into it with fans on Twitter, praising the depth of the Bellator roster, and assuring that the UFC was not the only home for top talent in MMA. It began when McCarthy applauded the Bellator team for signing former UFC champ Lyoto Machida.

Drake Riggs - June 7, 2018

“The commentators, especially the UFC post-fight or pre-fight people…they’re putting information out that’s not true. And that hurts the fans in understanding what the judges are utilizing to score that round. The problem is this…something happens in a fight and a referee does something and it’s wrong. But Frank [Mir] or whoever or me says, ‘yeah, yeah he’s doing this’. It’s wrong. Once it’s verified by the commentator, well that was the right way of doin’ it.

Tom Taylor - May 29, 2018

Last weekend, in the main event of the UFC’s debut in Liverpool, hometown hero Darren Till picked up the biggest win of his career, defeating two-time welterweight title challenger Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson by decision. Not everybody, however, agreed with this result. Shortly after the judges’ verdict was read, there was an outpouring of criticism suggesting that Thompson, not Till, should have been awarded the victory.

Tom Taylor - April 23, 2018

On the undercard of Saturday night’s exciting UFC Atlantic City card, Merab Dvalishvili and hist short-notice replacement opponent Rick Simon engaged in an exciting, three-round war. Unfortunately, the end of this contest was shadowed in controversy. As the seconds wore off the clock, Simon, who seemed to be down two rounds, locked up a mounted guillotine. Though the choke looked deep, Dvalishvili showed incredible toughness, refusing to tap and frantically flailing his legs in what looked like an effort to show the referee he was still conscious.

Tom Taylor - March 7, 2018

Veteran MMA referee and current Bellator commentator “Big” John McCarthy is becoming one of the most respected voices in MMA. As such, his opinions on the sport’s hot-button issues are always interesting to hear. On a recent episode of MMAJunkie Radio, the veteran referee tackled the issue of former UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones’s unfortunate brush with USADA. In McCarthy’s opinion, Jones probably didn’t intentionally take a performance enhancing drug, but might be a little careless when it comes to what he puts in his body.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2018

Last weekend, on the undercard of UFC 222, former Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard made his latest return to the UFC’s Octagon, this time opposite TUF veteran CB Dollaway. Regrettably, this fight ended in controversy, as Lombard put Dollaway down with a volley of punches that occurred split seconds after the first round ended. He was disqualified for this perceived foul, which in turn meant a bizarre and surely undesirable DQ win for Dollaway.

Tom Taylor - January 10, 2018

Yesterday afternoon, we learned that veteran MMA referee “Big” John McCarthy had joined the Bellator MMA family as a member of the promotion’s broadcast team. Initially, it sounded as though McCarthy’s broadcast duties signalled the end of his career as a referee, but apparently that’s not the case. He still plans to work as an officiator in smaller shows. “Can I go and referee? Yes, I can go and referee,” McCarthy told MMA Fighting. “If I want to go and referee something internationally, I can do it. I can do small shows here if I want. I’ll do charity events and things like that. I’m not gonna say, ‘Oh, I’m retired.’ I’m not retired. At this moment, I’m just taking on something else, so that’s gonna go on the back burner. All of my attention is gonna go toward being the best color commentator I can be for Bellator.”

Tom Taylor - July 31, 2017

Last Saturday, Daniel Cormier’s reign as UFC light heavyweight champion came to a crashing halt, as he was put down by a third-round head-kick dealt by his rival Jon Jones. Some 24 hours later, Cormier released a statement on his Instagram account, during which he congratulated Jones, and apologized to referee John McCarthy for initially protesting the stoppage. First off, thank you all for the kind words. I have felt the support. Congratulations to Jon Jones and his team. They did a phenomenal job and got the victory. Also, to Big John McCarthy, I would like to apologize for acting up with you. I am thankful for the time you gave me to try and defend myself and stay in the fight. You are the best in the business for a reason. I also wanna thank my team and my coaches. I love you all from the bottom of my heart. Your time and energy is greatly appreciated. You guys did a wonderful job, I was ready. It’s a fist fight and things happen. Dana White and the @ufc, thank you for being the premiere organization in all of MMA. Again, congrats to Team Jones and JacksonWink. Love you all. I’ll see you soon. DC 📷@layziethesavage

Tom Taylor - June 26, 2017

Last night, in the main event of the UFC’s anticipated trip to Oklahoma City, Michael Chiesa lost by submission to “The MoTown Phenom” Kevin Lee. The unfortunate thing is that, while Lee’s rear-naked choke was deep, Chiesa never actually tapped out or lost consciousness. Instead, referee Mario Yamasaki misread the situation, and stopped the fight early. Since then, Yamasaki has received a good deal of criticism, as everyone from Chiesa to UFC President Dana White has shared their distaste for his officiating.