“Big” John McCarthy challenges fans who think the best fighters are all in the UFC

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.

Bellator did good here!!! You won’t find a classier fighter either in or out of the cage!!! Welcome to Bellator @lyotomachidafw https://t.co/IFE0Ztsee0

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) June 23, 2018

“Bellator did good here,” McCarthy said. “You will not find a classier fighter either in or out of the cage! Welcome to Bellator [Lyoto Machida].

McCarthy then found himself staving off ornery fans who claimed that Bellator is little more than a retirement home for aging UFC fighters.

Bellator has a slew of young studs, start watching @edruth67 @jarchmma and Tyrell Fortune and you will see that Bellator is doing just find with young talent. Ohh you can watch all of them this Friday at Bellator 201. See we deliver for you https://t.co/AAAJHGOq66

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) June 23, 2018

“Bellator has a slew of young studs, start watching [Ed Ruth] and [Juan Archuleta] and Tyrell Fortune and you will see that Bellator is doing just find with young talent,” he said. “Oh you can watch all of them this Friday at Bellator 201. See we deliver for you.”

McCarthy then reminded that there’s been plenty of less-than-stellar talent in the UFC.

LMAO, oh sure, kinda like CM Punk & Mike Jackson!!! Best of the best!! Look, I love the UFC & they have a bunch of great fighters, but if you think they have all the best in the world, you are sorely mistaken. There are great fighters out there that you have never heard of https://t.co/AoioNZLb2N

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) June 24, 2018

“LMAO, oh sure, kinda like CM Punk & Mike Jackson,” he said. “Best of the best! Look, I love the UFC & they have a bunch of great fighters, but if you think they have all the best in the world, you are sorely mistaken. There are great fighters out there that you have never heard of.”

McCarthy then took a sarcastic tone in his argument:

Come on Paul, are you crazy???? If your not in the UFC you suck!!! Lmao!! It’s amazing how people get roped by the information the UFC propaganda machine puts out. I admit they do a great job of making people think they are the only MMA out there. Sad people buy into it #AskBJM https://t.co/6HajL1t8Ru

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) June 24, 2018

“Come on Paul, are you crazy? If your not in the UFC you suck!” he said sarcastically. “Lmao! It’s amazing how people get roped by the information the UFC propaganda machine puts out. I admit they do a great job of making people think they are the only MMA out there. Sad people buy into it.”

He continued:

That is about the biggest line of bullshit there is besides you have to fight in the UFC to be a good fighter. Again, I love the UFC they have the deepest stable of fighters in MMA, but they definitely don’t have all the best fighters in the world. I just speak TRUTH!!! AskBJM https://t.co/E1p79NaTig

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) June 24, 2018

“That is about the biggest line of bullshit there is besides you have to fight in the UFC to be a good fighter,” he said. “Again, I love the UFC they have the deepest stable of fighters in MMA, but they definitely don’t have all the best fighters in the world.”

McCarthy then acknowledged that there are differences between the UFC and Bellator — and they don’t all favor the former.

There are differences between the two. Both are MMA promotions. The UFC has the largest roster of fighters in MMA. Bellator allows fighters to compete in other combative sports like Boxing & Kickboxing . Bellator allows sponsors while the UFC regulates Reebok pay #AskBJM https://t.co/ckYJiFQ23U

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) June 24, 2018

“There are differences between the two,” he said. “Both are MMA promotions. The UFC has the largest roster of fighters in MMA. Bellator allows fighters to compete in other combative sports like Boxing & Kickboxing. Bellator allows sponsors while the UFC regulates Reebok pay.”

Finally, McCarthy clarified that he does still love the UFC. He loves all MMA.

Exactly!! I love the UFC!!! I love Bellator!!! I love MMA and I don’t have to reduce my viewing of the sport to one promotion over another. I get to watch it all and that is what I will always do #AskBJM https://t.co/9oGntsnT52

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) June 25, 2018

“I love the UFC! I love Bellator! I love MMA and I don’t have to reduce my viewing of the sport to one promotion over another,” he said. “I get to watch it all and that is what I will always do.”

What do you think of these arguments from John McCarthy?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/25/2018.