John McCarthy News

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.

Tom Taylor - May 1, 2017

When the UFC travels across the united states – and further afield – the rules its athletes compete under can change depending on the rules of the athletic commission that is overseeing the fight. According to veteran referee Big John McCarthy, this is a real problem, and at the end of the day, an inconsistency that is simply not fair to the fighters. McCarthy explained this feeling on a recent episode of MMA Junkie Radio, using the rules of the NFL for context.

Russell Ess - January 25, 2017

https://youtu.be/lzGu5VrJN34 Tito Ortiz left his gloves in the cage following his first round submission over Chael Sonnen in the main event at Bellator 170 over the weekend.

Tom Taylor - November 28, 2016

Veteran referee “Big” John McCarthy made his first Octagon appearance all the way back at UFC 2 in the year 1994. As such, he and his trademark “let’s get it on” fight-staring line are as much a symbol of the UFC as Bruce Buffer, Joe Rogan, and the Octagon itself. Of course, Big John’s officiating duties extend far beyond the confines of the UFC’s Octagon. Over the course of his lengthy career as a mixed martial arts referee, he’s officiated bouts in other high profile promotions like Bellator, and is even qualified to handle boxing bouts.

Chris Taylor - September 25, 2016

Veteran UFC heavyweight Roy Nelson made headlines yesterday evening in Brazil for all the wrong reasons.

Chris Taylor - September 25, 2016

UFC heavyweight veteran Roy “Big Country” Nelson scored knockout number 14 of his storied mixed martial arts career at last night’s UFC Fight Night 95 event in Brazil. Nelson caught his opponent, former UFC heavyweight title challenger Antonio Silva, with a massive uppercut late in round two that sent “Bigfoot” crashing to the canvas. Roy quickly followed Silva to the floor where he unleashed some heavy ground and pound strikes which eventually prompted referee John McCarthy to step in and stop the bout.

Chris Taylor - September 25, 2016

UFC veteran Roy Nelson added another knockout victory to his resume at last night’s UFC Fight Night 95 event in Brazil, scoring a second-round finish over Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva. “Big Country” flattened the former UFC heavyweight title challenger (Antonio Silva) with an uppercut late in the fight’s second-round and then promptly followed up with some ground and pound to secure the win.

bjpenndotcom - February 10, 2016

Just a little flashback video of a guy we all know by “Big John” McCarthy who was pulling some overtime hours during the LA riots back in the early 90’s.