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Tag: John McCarthy

  • Francis Ngannou’s Inactivity Prompts MMA Analyst To Urge PFL To Scrap Heavyweight Division

    Francis Ngannou’s Inactivity Prompts MMA Analyst To Urge PFL To Scrap Heavyweight Division

    Francis Ngannou’s inactivity compels an MMA analyst to advise PFL for drastic measures with the heavyweight division.

    “The Predator” inked his deal with PFL in May 2023, securing several exclusive perks, including being named chairman of PFL Africa with the responsibility of spearheading MMA’s growth across the continent. However, when PFL Africa finally launched with a sold-out debut in Cape Town this July, Ngannou was conspicuously absent.

    Francis Ngannou
    Image: @francis_ngannou/X

    Francis Ngannou’s absence from the Cape Town debut didn’t sit well with PFL chairman Donn Davis, who openly voiced his disappointment over the Cameroonian’s no-show at such a landmark event.

    John McCarthy Suggests PFL Should Shut Down Heavyweight Division With Francis Ngannou On Sidelines

    During a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast alongside former UFC fighter Josh Thomson, “Big” John McCarthy criticized Francis Ngannou for failing to live up to his PFL deal, pointing out that “The Predator” has fought just once in the past two years.

    With Ngannou stuck on the sidelines, the veteran MMA analyst argued that the PFL heavyweight division lacks the depth to justify its existence and suggested the promotion should instead invest its resources into other weight classes.

    “It’s a glamour division with no talent,” McCarthy said. “Let’s just be honest, OK? Why do you have it? You have the ability to put in a flyweight division. You finally put in the bantamweights: Way to go. That was a smart thing. You’ve got some really good, talented people in that. Open up the 125-pound division. Take the heavyweights, get rid of it.

    “Be honest, (the UFC’s) whole (heavyweight) lineup, it’s just not that good. You can take a look at the PFL’s lineup. Yes, Francis is a good fighter… Get rid of it. All it does is cost you way more money than it’s worth for your promotion. Get rid of the heavyweights, put in all the other weight classes. Have 125, ’35, ’45, ’55 – you’ll have it all the way to 205. You don’t need the heavyweights because they’re not doing anything for you, and Francis is not doing anything as far as what he was supposedly contracted for.”

    Francis Ngannou’s lone outing inside the SmartCage came at PFL Super Fights: Battle of the Giants in October 2024, where he stopped Renan Ferreira via first-round TKO to capture the PFL super heavyweight title.

    Since parting ways with the UFC, however, “The Predator” has shifted his focus to boxing, suffering back-to-back defeats in high-profile bouts against Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

    PFL heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou
    Image: @francisngannou/Instagram
  • John McCarthy Suggests Improvement To UFC Broadcasts: ‘I’m Being Honest…’

    John McCarthy Suggests Improvement To UFC Broadcasts: ‘I’m Being Honest…’

    “Big” John McCarthy didn’t just help write the Unified Rules of MMA, he knows them like the back of his hand. The veteran referee turned commentator has been using his expertise when it comes to the rules of the sport to assist on the PFL’s broadcasts since the promotion acquired Bellator last year.

    McCarthy is often utilized as a rules analyst who will chime in on the broadcast to explain what is happening in certain scenarios which is no different to what happens in other sports. His current contract with the PFL has recently expired and though he does not intend on going back to the days where he would be constantly flying from A to B, he does think that the MMA leader could benefit from his services.

    “Big” John spoke in a recent interview with MMA Junkie about how the UFC would benefit from having a rules analyst for their broadcasts even if it’s not necessarily him in that role. He explained why this would be beneficial as an added layer of detail which the commentators aren’t currently providing.

    “Oh, absolutely,” McCarthy said. “I don’t know if the UFC would want me, but yeah, I could do it with the UFC. And I’m being honest, I think it’s something the UFC needs. They have too many times that their commentators are unsure about what is going on or what should be done, and that’s not their fault. Their commentators are there to explain the ins and outs of fighting to the fans. To sit there and expect them to know all the rules and what the mechanics of the referee is and what they need – they can’t do that.

    “So, they have Din Thomas kind of off to the side as the coach. I do think they need, and I’m not saying it’s me, but they need somebody there to absolutely clear things up for the fans when they are in a situation when the time has been stopped, a foul has occurred, or something like that, and gives the correct information about what’s occuring and where they can go with what has happened.”

  • MMA Analyst Says Colby Covington Might Regret His Return Decision: ‘That’s A Different Buckley’

    MMA Analyst Says Colby Covington Might Regret His Return Decision: ‘That’s A Different Buckley’

    At UFC Tampa in the promotion’s final event of 2024, Colby Covington makes a somewhat unexpected return to face Joaquin Buckley in the main event on December 14. The former interim welterweight champion has been linked with a lot of different match-ups since his last fight against Leon Edwards in December of last year but none of them have come together.

    Covington will now be replacing Ian Machado Garry to take on the surging Buckley after Garry moved into the co-main event of UFC 310 to face Shavkat Rakhmonov. Though “New Mansa” is in the best form of his life right now, many see Buckley as a more winnable fight for Covington than some of the other names he has been linked with.

    For as good as his winning streak at welterweight has been, he’s got some losses on his record and in some of those, he was outwrestled which is where the former three-time title challenger could get his hand raised.

    Josh Thomson and “Big” John McCarthy raised this point during a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast where they said that “Chaos” may be underestimating Buckley for this very reason. McCarthy spoke about why Covington has decided to come back for this fight in particular.

    “I look and I think Colby actually bit on this fight thinking ‘Alright, I’ve seen people out wrestle Buckley in the past and I can out wrestle him and take him down’. Now, that’s a different Buckley though too, Buckley’s a different fighter.”

    McCarthy also made reference to Buckley’s 2018 loss in Bellator to Logan Storley, using this as a comparison to his next match-up.

    “You can look at that and say well, Logan just outwrestled him and dropped him anytime he wanted and takedown stuff. Logan’s a better wrestler than Colby Covington ever was okay, sorry, and Buckley is way better now than he was back then.”

  • John McCarthy Slams Referee For ‘Destroying’ UFC 307 Fight: ‘Stop, Quit, Retire!’

    John McCarthy Slams Referee For ‘Destroying’ UFC 307 Fight: ‘Stop, Quit, Retire!’

    Former renowned MMA referee John McCarthy was among those less than impressed with the work of one official at UFC 307 this past weekend.

    Plenty of talking points emerged from Saturday’s pay-per-view event in Utah. Unfortunately, not all of them focused on the actual fighting held inside Salt Lake City’s Delta Center.

    Instead, questionable judging and outright terrible refereeing caused a heap of discourse online. The latter of those conversations was down to the work of Dave Seljestad.

    In his final assignment of the night, Seljestad was the third man inside the cage for Cesar Almeida and Ihor Potieria’s middleweight preliminary contest. It proved to be a painful bout for the Ukrainian, who was on the receiving end of a low blow and at least four eye pokes. Despite his complaints, the fouls were largely ignored by the referee.

    And — as if “The Duelist” didn’t have reason enough to feel hard done by — he was granted just seconds in dominant clinch positions before Seljestad decided to separate the fighters, much to the bemusement of the commentary team and MMA masses.

    It doesn’t take one of the most experienced refs the sport has seen to outline what Seljestad did wrong. But for those still needing an explanation…

    McCarthy On UFC 307 Ref: Congratulations, You ‘Sh*t The Bed!’

    During the latest episode of his Weighing In podcast alongside Josh Thomson, McCarthy reacted to the officiating controversy from UFC 307.

    The veteran referee did not mince his words when it came to Seljestad’s performance, accusing him of trying to make the fight about himself and urging him to give up his career as third man inside the cage.

    “I’ll tell you what, the referee absolutely destroyed this fight. It was bad,” McCarthy said. “Potieria got eye poked probably five to six times in this thing. I know the referee. He’s been around forever. He’s been reffing in Utah for over 20 years. … Look at when he’s checking the fighters and he starts doing this big swooping motion over the tape of the glove, and he makes it dramatic. You go, ‘Dude, I don’t know if you realize, this isn’t about you.’

    “He f*cking broke them off of clinches. Guy gets into a clinch on the fence, 10 seconds and he separates them. You look and you go, ‘It’s all about you isn’t it? … Congratulations, Dave Seljestad. You made a fight bad,” McCarthy continued. “You absolutely just sh*t the bed. It was horrible. You did something completely outside of what the rules for the sport are. … What are you in there for? … Stop, quit, retire! The sport has passed you by and you’re not doing your job, so you’re no good for anybody.”

    Seljestad’s lack of action regarding Almeida’s fouls and egregiously quick clinch separations caused a stir on social media, with many going as far as to brand it the worst performance from a referee in UFC history.

    Suffice to say, he may struggle to get on the officiating lineup when the promotion returns to Utah…

  • ‘Rory Is Dying’ – John McCarthy Opens Up About Reffing Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald 2

    ‘Rory Is Dying’ – John McCarthy Opens Up About Reffing Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald 2

    Robbie Lawler vs. Rory MacDonald 2 is widely considered one of the, if not the best MMA fight of all time. The first two rounds started slow but the last three will never be removed from MMA history.

    Lawler’s intense stare before the fifth, followed by him securing the finish, is as iconic as it gets. His post-fight interview with the torn lip was like the cherry on top, making the UFC 189 co-main event one of the most memorable fights of all time.

    John McCarthy had the privilege of witnessing this action more closely than anyone else in the world as the referee. However, he’s now revealed a shocking concern as the welterweights continued damaging each other for five rounds…

    “Big” John McCarthy Explains Rory MacDonald’s Life-Threatening Condition When Fighting Robbie Lawler At UFC 189

    McCarthy recently appeared on Tim Welch’s YouTube channel for an episode of Red Hawk Recap. When asked about the hardest fight to ref, he remembered a random heavyweight bout involving an intentional groin shot.

    However, the conversation turned serious when McCarthy expressed his concerns about MacDonald aspirating blood during his fight against Robbie Lawler at UFC 189. Due to the severe nose blockage, “The Red King” couldn’t breathe properly and his blood was sticking to his lungs which could’ve been fatal if not diagnosed properly.

    “I had that with Rory MacDonald with Robbie Lawler. And a lot of people look at that fight, they love the fight. It was an incredible fight, but if you look at it, Rory is dying! During parts of that fight, based upon he’s aspirating blood. which means he’s starting to have the blood stick into his lungs. He’s not swallowing it, he’s breathing it in and now it’s taking his lungs’ ability to dissipate the oxygen.”

    “Big” further explained his dilemma as MacDonald would always be off to a good start after the one-minute rest between rounds. He would then be fatigued for obvious reasons towards the end of these rounds but because this was a title fight, the veteran referee couldn’t make up his mind about stopping it.

    “He would come out every round, just like they normally do and he would do well based upon he now has oxygen. He’s had that minute rest, now that he gets a little tired, now he’s starting to suck air because he can’t breathe through his nose. And he’s starting to breathe through his mouth and now he’s starting to fall off the cliff. But now it gets to the end of the round, all right, he’s made it. Let’s try to see if we can go to the next one. But those are the ones to me that are scary.”

    McCarthy shockingly revealed that during the fight, he was worried about entering the club of referees who’ve had fatal incidents occur inside the ring while they’re refereeing.

    Luckily, the inhuman brawl against Lawler didn’t affect MacDonald in the ways that McCarthy feared. He competed for seven more years and even won a championship in Bellator.

    READ MORE: Prominent MMA Manager Feels Dana White Has Been ‘Playing’ Media With Jon Jones P4P Talk

  • ‘Big’ John McCarthy Slams Influencer Who Disrespected Nate Diaz At Press Conference: ‘Homeboy, You’re Lucky He Doesn’t Jump Over The Table…’

    ‘Big’ John McCarthy Slams Influencer Who Disrespected Nate Diaz At Press Conference: ‘Homeboy, You’re Lucky He Doesn’t Jump Over The Table…’

    A recent trend in combat sports sees influencers asking intentionally provoking questions to professional fighters in order to stir up social media.

    The latest example came during the press conference for Nate Diaz and Jorge Masvidal’s boxing match this Saturday where a streamer named “N3on” got hold of the mic.

    He proceeded to ask Diaz whether he was going to retire when he gets knocked out on Saturday night, which obviously did not go down well with the Stockton fighter.

    The streamer’s name may ring a bell for fight fans after he was prevented from attending UFC 296 in December last year following comments online about how he would confront Donald Trump at the event.

    ‘Big’ John McCarthy Says N3on Is Lucky Nate Diaz Didn’t Go Right At Him After Insulting Question

    On a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, “Big” John McCarthy gave his reaction to the clip of N3on attempting to antagonise Diaz at the press conference.

    Diaz did hold his own and repeatedly responded with expletives before his team appeared to pursue the streamer once the press conference had finished, as shown in the video below.

    McCarthy expressed his dislike of this trend that keeps coming back around, expressing that N3on should be lucky that Diaz didn’t just decide to jump off the stage and handle it right then and there.

    “Where is it that a guy that has never been in a fight in his life wants to be a smarta** with a guy who is a real fighter, he has to sit up there, he has to listen to your b******* and you want to sit there and say, ‘Are you gonna retire when you get knocked out this Saturday night?’

    “It’s like, do you think maybe, do you think just maybe that’s a f****** douchebag thing to say to a guy that’s been through wars throughout his career and you’ve never done a f****** thing?”

    McCarthy then continued, warning streamers like N3on who push their luck against real fighters that they may end up biting off more trouble than they can chew.

    “It’s always these guys that they’ll never f****** do anything and they’ll sit there and say something like, ‘You’re gonna get knocked out, you gonna retire when you do’. It’s like, homebody, you’re lucky he doesn’t jump over that table and just drop kick you into the f****** third row and let your teeth become f****** chicklets.”

  • John McCarthy Believes Luke Rockhold Has A Chance Against Paulo Costa

    John McCarthy has come out and said why he understands Luke Rockhold’s callout of Paul Costa for his return fight in the UFC.

    Rockhold was scheduled to return to competitive action against Sean Strickland at UFC 268 in November of last year. However, at that time, the former UFC middleweight champion was forced to withdraw as he herniated a disc in his back.

    The 37-year-old is now eyeing a return to the Octagon at some point this year, as he chose to call out Costa as a potential opponent.

    Luke Rockhold Sean Strickland
    Photo via Instagram @lukerockhold

    McCarthy recently spoke on his podcast with Josh Thomson, where he evaluated Rockhold’s potential return against Costa as being good a matchup for the veteran. (h/t SportsKeeda)

    “Yes, Luke at times gets too much into being a standup guy,” McCarthy explained. “Cause he’s slick, he’s a technical fighter. He’s got beautiful kicks, he hides them well, he’s got power on them, but his ground game is what made Luke Rockhold who he was.”

    “They don’t give him credit for being as good as he is, and Luke on the ground is good. That dude is phenomenal on the ground. And there’s a huge difference between his ground game and Paulo Costa’s ground game. So, if I look at this fight, I go, this is not a bad fight for him. I understand why he’s calling him out.”

    Costa, like Rockhold, is now on a two-fight losing streak following his loss to Marvin Vettori in October of last year. This means a fight between the pair could make sense regarding the landscape of the middleweight division currently.

    Both fighters could see themselves reentering the title picture with a victory. However, many are still left wondering whether there is fight left in Rockhold, who would be returning to 185lbs for the first time since his knockout loss to Yoel Romero in 2018. Yet a two-year break might be all that was required for the veteran to rest and recover for a special comeback.

    Do you agree with John McCarthy that Paulo Costa is a good matchup for Luke Rockhold?