John McCarthy News

Nick Diaz
Nick Diaz

John McCarthy says he “wouldn’t mind” seeing Nick Diaz fight for a title next: “That doesn’t mean that I am talking about the welterweight title”

Susan Cox - May 31, 2022

John McCarthy expressed his thoughts on seeing Nick Diaz get a title fight next. McCarthy, 59, the former legendary UFC referee, during a ‘Weighing In’ podcast with Josh Thomson, discussed what he believes should be next for Nick Diaz.

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UFC

John McCarthy weighs in on last weekend’s UFC Vegas 55 main event result: “I don’t think it was a robbery”

Susan Cox - May 24, 2022

John McCarthy, former MMA referee, has weighed in on last weekends UFC Vegas 55 main event result. UFC Vegas 55 took place on Saturday May 21st, 2022 inside the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Rose Namajunas

John McCarthy believes poor corner advice is partially to blame for the performance of Rose Namajunas at UFC 274

Susan Cox - May 10, 2022

John McCarthy is weighing in on the performance of Rose Namajunas this past Saturday night at UFC 274, believing poor corner advise is partially to blame for the loss. It was Rose Namajunas (12-5 MMA) vs Carla Esparza (20-6 MMA) in the strawweight co-main event. Carla was to be the victor by split decision, stripping the title from Rose. While anticipation leading up to the fight was great, the outcome proved to be so lacklustre that some media reports are saying it just might have been the worst UFC title fight in history.

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John McCarthy

John McCarthy says he went back and watched Yan vs. Sterling 2 as a judge: “It’s razor close. It could have gone either way”

Susan Cox - April 18, 2022

It seems that John McCarthy is walking back comments he previously made concerning the Yan vs Sterling 2 battle that occurred at UFC 273 on April 9th of this year. It was Aljamain Sterling (21-3 MMA) vs Petr Yan (16-3 MMA) at the co-main event bout where the UFC bantamweight champion kept his belt by defeating Yan in a split decision victory (48-47 48-47,47-48).

Aljamain Sterling
John McCarthy

Aljamain Sterling claps back at John McCarthy for suggesting there is “no way” he won Round 1 against Petr Yan

Susan Cox - April 13, 2022

The UFC 273 co-main event between Aljamain Sterling (21-3 MMA) and Petr Yan (16-3 MMA) took place this past weekend in Jacksonville, Florida. It was Sterling who succeeded in defending his bantamweight belt by defeating Yan with a split decision victory. John McCarthy, a retired referee who currently hosts the MMA and combat sports podcast ‘Weighing In’ with Josh Thomson, recently spoke about Sterling’s fight saying:

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John McCarthy

John McCarthy weighs in on the UFC 273 co-main event: “No way in the world you're gonna tell me that Aljo won that first round”

Susan Cox - April 12, 2022

John McCarthy, 59, a retired referee, is best known for officiating numerous bouts promoted by the UFC. Currently John co-hosts the MMA and combat sports podcast ‘Weighing In’ with Josh Thomson. McCarthy weighed in on the UFC 273 co-main event between Aljamain Sterling (21-3 MMA) and Petr Yan (16-3 MMA) this past weekend in Jacksonville, Florida. It was Sterling who succeeded in defending his bantamweight belt by defeating Yan with a split decision victory.

Josh Thomson, John McCarthy, PRIDE
Josh Thomson

John McCarthy and Josh Thomson discuss how PRIDE tried to sway the odds in favor of their favorite sons

Susan Cox - April 1, 2022

John McCarthy and Josh Thomson discussed how PRIDE tried to sway the odds in favor of their favorite sons. PRIDE Fighting Championships began as a Japanese MMA promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Arguably PRIDE was the most popular MMA promotion during the early 2000’s. PRIDE over the years, held more than sixty mixed martial arts events, broadcast to an estimated 40 countries worldwide.

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John McCarthy

John McCarthy weighs in on Colby Covington: “He’s never going to be an exciting fighter”

Susan Cox - March 9, 2022

John McCarthy has shared his on his thoughts on former UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington. McCarthy, 59, is a former MMA referee and current broadcaster for Bellator MMA. Arguably best known for officiating numerous bouts in the UFC.

Jon Jones, Francis Ngannou
John McCarthy

John McCarthy weighs in on a potential heavyweight fight between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones

Susan Cox - January 25, 2022

In speaking in a recent episode of the ‘Weighing In’ podcast, John McCarthy gave his opinion on a Francis Ngannou vs Jon Jones potential fight: “Jon would have taken Ciryl down and beat him to death on the ground. Francis can knock him out, he can hit him with a shot. Ciryl can knock him out. Anyone can get knocked out. But, if you are looking at these guys fighting, (if) they fight 10 times, Jon Jones is definitely gonna win 9 out of 10 times.”

Francis-Ngannou-Fernand-Lopez
Francis Ngannou

John McCarthy slams Francis Ngannou’s former coach for breaking “code” and leaking sparring footage: “Shame on you”

Harry Kettle - January 12, 2022

John McCarthy has slammed Fernand Lopez for threatening to release sparring footage between Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane. Later this month at UFC 270, Francis Ngannou will defend his UFC heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in one of the most highly-anticipated heavyweight bouts in years. The two men were formerly teammates under the guidance of Fernand Lopez, until Ngannou left the gym in search of pastures new.

Nick Diaz, UFC 266, Robbie Lawler
Nick Diaz

John McCarthy says Nick Diaz is not who fans perceive him to be: “He’s not a thug. He’s very intellectual as far as what he cares about”

Harry Kettle - December 28, 2021

John McCarthy believes Nick Diaz isn’t the man that fans perceive him to be as discussion regarding his potential retirement continues. Back in September, after more than six years away from mixed martial arts, Nick Diaz returned to the UFC with a highly-anticipated rematch against Robbie Lawler. Diaz came up on the losing end and while he did have some nice moments in the first few rounds, he ultimately didn’t look like himself in there.

Aljamain Sterling, John McCarthy, Jose Aldo, UFC
John McCarthy

John McCarthy says Jose Aldo is 'that guy' and he could beat Aljamain Sterling

Andrew Whitelaw - December 22, 2021

John McCarthy has lauded Jose Aldo and believes that the Brazilian could beat the current UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. Aldo has looked revitalised recently. The former featherweight champ has put together an impressive run of three straight victories including a unanimous decision win against Rob Font earlier this month.

Daniel Cormier, UFC
John McCarthy

Daniel Cormier and John McCarthy react to the "worst" officiating in UFC history

Chris Taylor - October 30, 2021

Daniel Cormier and John McCarthy were among several members of the MMA community to share their disgust with referee Vyacheslav Kiselev. Kiselev was the referee in charge of handling today’s UFC 267 welterweight bout between Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos and Benoit Saint-Denis.

Daniel Cormier, ufc rankings
Fedor Emelianenko

Daniel Cormier responds to backlash from Fedor Emelianenko comments: "I don’t understand how this ruffled so many people’s feathers"

Christopher Taylor - October 25, 2021

Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier has responded after receiving a ton of backlash for his comments about Fedor Emelianenko. Prior to ‘The Last Emperor’ earning a stunning knockout over Tim Johnson at last weekend’s Bellator 268 event, Cormier had suggested that Fedor would have been “average at best” in the UFC.

Fedor Emelianenko
John McCarthy

John McCarthy rips Daniel Cormier for his comments on Fedor Emelianenko: 'You’re sounding like you're being a homer for the UFC'

Cole Shelton - October 25, 2021

John McCarthy has ripped Daniel Cormier over his comments about Fedor Emelianenko. The former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion, Cormier, recently said on his YouTube channel that he thought had Emelianenko signed with the UFC, he would’ve been average at best. Those comments took many by surprise, including John McCarthy, who proceeded to rip ‘DC’ for for his controversial take.

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MMA News

Veteran referee John McCarthy shares his take on Saturday’s ‘Holland vs. Daukaus’ no-contest ruling at UFC Vegas 38

Adam D Martin - October 3, 2021

Veteran MMA referee John McCarthy shared his take on Saturday’s ‘Holland vs. Daukaus’ controversial no-contest ruling at UFC Vegas 38. Holland and Daukaus clashed heads in the first round in their middleweight bout at UFC Vegas 38, which led to Holland being knocked down to the floor. However, he immediately woke back up, and referee Dan Miragliotta did not stop the fight. A minute later, Daukaus choked Holland out with a rear-naked choke. It appeared as though Daukaus would get the win, but after using instant replay, the referee determined that the clash of heads was what led to the finish, and the referee ultimately decided to rule the bout a No Contest.

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Derrick Lewis

John McCarthy explains why Ciryl Gane vs. Derrick Lewis should not be for interim UFC heavyweight title

Adam D Martin - August 1, 2021

Bellator analyst John McCarthy explained why Ciryl Gane vs. Derrick Lewis should not be fighting for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 265. Gane vs. Lewis headlines UFC 265 next Saturday night at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The UFC creating an interim belt was controversial because UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou won his title back in March, so to create an interim belt just a few months later seems strange, and a lot of fans and media pushed back when it was first announced.

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UFC

John McCarthy scolds referee Al Guinee for failing to notice that Jamahal Hill had dislocated his arm in UFC 263 fight with Paul Craig

Adam D Martin - June 13, 2021

John McCarthy scolded referee Al Guinee for failing to notice that Jamahal Hill had dislocated his arm in UFC 263 fight with Paul Craig. The UFC headed to Glendale, Arizona for UFC 263, and the athletic commission hired Guinee, a local referee on the regional circuit there, to handle several of the fights on the UFC 263 pay-per-view card. One of the fights that Guinee was assigned to was the Hill vs. Craig light heavyweight bout that opened up the card. However, the referee made a major blunder when he failed to notice that Hill had dislocated his arm against Craig and didn’t stop the fight immediately. He also failed to notice that Hill had indicated a tap, which led to the fighter taking far more damage than he needed to take, and McCarthy wasn’t happy.