Longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) referee John McCarthy became enemy of the state more than a decade ago when he hooked up with Affliction MMA, taking on commentary duties for what at the time was a direct competitor to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).
“Big” also served as analyst for The Fight Network and spoke out in favor of former champion Randy Couture, back when “The Natural” was mired in a public feud with UFC President Dana White. It’s not that McCarthy was anti-UFC, he just chose to speak his mind on the issues at hand.
So as you might imagine, now that McCarthy is hosting a podcast with former UFC lightweight Josh Thomson, the longtime man in black did not have too many kind words for White and Co. when the promotion decided to soldier on during the height of the coronavirus outbreak.
As a result, “Big” was featured in the recent anti-media video rant posted by White.
“Here’s a guy that says ‘I don’t give a fuck about the media,’” McCarthy said (transcribed by Tom Taylor). “First off, I don’t even look as us as media, but that’s okay, but then he always complains about clickbait, ‘These media guys and that clickbait bullshit that they do…’ What the fuck did you and your little team do, man? You little clickbait bitch. You are so pathetic.”
White celebrated a financially profitable year for UFC when most of the others major sports were either shut down or scaled back. At the same time, the Las Vegas fight boss took swipes at some of the top journalists in and around combat sports for their protests.
“You need to have your own little pat on the back, okay let me pat you on the back, because you took everything out of context,” McCarthy continued. “You made it to where you were the hero. Congratulations hero Dana. Oh, let me bow down to you. Unbelievable. My God. The UFC had a fantastic year, but let’s be honest about everything that occurred, and let’s be honest about your video, because your video is clickbait and it’s bullshit and it’s out of context.”
UFC had another successful year but at the same time, dozens of fighters contracted COVID-19 and put their close contacts at risk. That was pretty much the argument behind the criticism directed at White, who insists his decision to move forward was not financially motivated.
I guess this was just a coincidence.