John McCarthy gives his scorecard for Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk

Bellator commentator and veteran MMA official Big John McCarthy has share his scorecard for the UFC 248 co-main event between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

Zhang and Jedrzejczyk put on an instant classic on Saturday night, going the full five-round distance against each other in an all-out war. Zhang won the fight by split decision, but Jedrzejczyk saw her stock rise by putting on an incredible performance even despite losing. McCarthy, who knows a thing or two about fighting, was asked by host Josh Thomson on the “Weighing In” podcast what he thought about the fight, and he praised both women for their performances.

“What a fight. That was just remarkable by both ladies. God damn, they were good, and they were tough. Weili turned Joanna into a Klingon. I had Mark Hominick with his giant hematoma when he fought Jose Aldo and that was a big one. Joanna just beat it. Good job by the referee and the ringside physicians for letting the fight go on and understanding why the swelling was there,” McCarthy said.

Thomson asked McCarthy, a judge himself, who he scored the fight for. McCarthy said it was a close fight that came down to the fifth round — and he believes that scoring the fight for either woman would have been fine.

“I had it going into the fifth round even. I had it 2-2 going into the fifth round. This is one of those fights that was so competitive either way it went, there are going to be people that thought Joanna won, and there are going to be people that thought Weili won it. Both deserve to win and I have no problem that Weili keeps the title. I have no problem that Joanna got the title. But you gotta look at what Weili did overall and we talk about damage and everything. She was damaged, she received a lot of damage on that leg, her face was swollen badly. But I was so impressed with a person that hasn’t fought into those fourth and fifth championship rounds,” McCarthy said.

How did you score the Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk fight? Do you agree with John McCarthy?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 3/9/2020.