And with good reason, too, as the fight failed to live up to the hype, and then some. That’s because instead of witnessing two bitter rivals go strike-for-strike, the big men were involved in one of the worst fights in recent memory.
You can blame bad cardio for that, as both men were visibly gassed after the first round. And while most expected the bout to end within the first five minutes, it made its way to the third and final frame.
“I honestly thought it would be over within the first round,” McCarthy told MMA Fighting. “And you know, when we got to the end of the first round, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this thing’s going to go all three rounds.”
The fight — which was more of a unskilled grappling match — put ‘Big John’s referee skills to the test, as he had to determine a good time to stand them back up to the feet. That’s why McCarthy explained his decision to bring the action upright during an instance in which Kimbo had full mount.
“I always tell them, ‘I’m going to stand you up unless you do something,'” McCarthy said. “I’m telling Kimbo, ‘Kimbo, do something.’ And he’s just tired. He’s not trying to punch, he’s not trying to go for a submission, he’s just trying to catch breath and let time go by.”
Thankfully, the fight ultimately came to and end early in round three after Dada 5000 collapsed to the ground after some not-so powerful strikes from Kimbo. If anything, it was fatigue that did Dada in. In fact, it was revealed that the massive fighter had cardiac problems after being carried out on a stretcher and into an ambulance.
Though John obviously isn’t mocking Dada 5000 — especially given his health scare –, or Kimbo, for that matter, he says at the end of the day, it isn’t his fault the combatants didn’t perform and showed up in bad shape to a fight.
“There was never anything that landed that was hard,” McCarthy said. “They didn’t hit each other with any hard shots. … Look, there are people that paid money to see this fight.” he said.
“This is not just about you laying on somebody because you’re both tired. That’s your fault for coming into the fight in that condition.”
And with good reason, too, as the fight failed to live up to the hype, and then some. That’s because instead of witnessing two bitter rivals go strike-for-strike, the big men were involved in one of the worst fights in recent memory.
You can blame bad cardio for that, as both men were visibly gassed after the first round. And while most expected the bout to end within the first five minutes, it made its way to the third and final frame.
“I honestly thought it would be over within the first round,” McCarthy told MMA Fighting. “And you know, when we got to the end of the first round, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this thing’s going to go all three rounds.”
The fight — which was more of a unskilled grappling match — put ‘Big John’s referee skills to the test, as he had to determine a good time to stand them back up to the feet. That’s why McCarthy explained his decision to bring the action upright during an instance in which Kimbo had full mount.
“I always tell them, ‘I’m going to stand you up unless you do something,'” McCarthy said. “I’m telling Kimbo, ‘Kimbo, do something.’ And he’s just tired. He’s not trying to punch, he’s not trying to go for a submission, he’s just trying to catch breath and let time go by.”
Thankfully, the fight ultimately came to and end early in round three after Dada 5000 collapsed to the ground after some not-so powerful strikes from Kimbo. If anything, it was fatigue that did Dada in. In fact, it was revealed that the massive fighter had cardiac problems after being carried out on a stretcher and into an ambulance.
Though John obviously isn’t mocking Dada 5000 — especially given his health scare –, or Kimbo, for that matter, he says at the end of the day, it isn’t his fault the combatants didn’t perform and showed up in bad shape to a fight.
“There was never anything that landed that was hard,” McCarthy said. “They didn’t hit each other with any hard shots. … Look, there are people that paid money to see this fight.” he said.
“This is not just about you laying on somebody because you’re both tired. That’s your fault for coming into the fight in that condition.”
