Tag: John McCarthy

Ex-UFC ref ‘Big’ John McCarthy comments on legality of Justin Gaethje’s brutal head kick KO at UFC 291

Justin GaethjeFormer referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy has weighed in on the legality of Justin Gaethje’s stunning second-round head kick KO against Dustin Poirier at UFC 291. On Saturday night, Gaethje gave fans a sequel to last year’s ‘Headshot, Dead’ moment by delivering his own jaw-dropping finish against lightweight rival Dustin Poirier. ‘The Highlight’ was the toast […]

Justin Gaethje

Former referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy has weighed in on the legality of Justin Gaethje’s stunning second-round head kick KO against Dustin Poirier at UFC 291.

On Saturday night, Gaethje gave fans a sequel to last year’s ‘Headshot, Dead’ moment by delivering his own jaw-dropping finish against lightweight rival Dustin Poirier. ‘The Highlight’ was the toast of the town following his highlight-reel-worthy finish, getting some attention from former opponent Michael Chandler and Irish megastar Conor McGregor. Gaethje also left the Delta Center as the promotion’s newly designated baddest motherf*cker in the game.

But as the dust began to settle, some fans came out questioning whether or not Justin Gaethje’s head kick finish was actually legal. On Twitter, one user, in particular, noted that Gaethje’s foot appeared to wrap around and tag the back of Dustin Poirier’s head, making it an illegal strike.

“I’m not advocating for anything to be done about it but I watched back Gaethje’s headkick KO & it solely landed on the back of the head/neck of Poirier which put him to sleep,” MMA Joey wrote on Twitter. “It’s clear as day in the replay. Could this in any universe be used to appeal the loss? #UFC291”

John McCarthy Confirms Justin Gaethje’s ‘Headshot, Dead’ Sequel Was Perfectly Legal

While the clip shows Gaethje’s foot hitting more of Poirier’s neck rather than his head, it immediately had fight fans questioning whether or not Poirier could make an appeal with the athletic commission.

Enter long-time UFC referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy, who provided his insight on the devastating knockout blow.

“Well the shin didn’t land on Dustin’s chin,” McCarthy wrote. “It landed on Dustin’s arm which was driven into the head and jawline by the shin. The foot wrapping around towards the back of the head is totally legal.”

With his victory at UFC 291, Justin Gaethje will now turn his attention toward adding another title belt to his collection. Specifically, the lightweight title that currently resides with Dagestani destroyer Islam Makhachev. In October, Makhachev is set to defend his title against former champion Charles ‘Do Bronx’ Oliveira at UFC 294. The winner is now expected to face Gaethje in early 2024.

Ronda Rousey urged to avoid rumored return to the UFC: ‘Walk away and be a farmer’

Ronda Rousey urged to avoid a UFC return walk away and be a farmerFormer undisputed UFC bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey has been urged to avoid a much-speculated return to the Octagon by former referee turned Bellator MMA color-commentator, John McCarthy, with the veteran claiming Rousey should turn her attention to farming instead. Rousey, a former undisputed Strikeforce bantamweight champion an inaugural UFC bantamweight titleholder, has been sidelined from […]

Ronda Rousey urged to avoid a UFC return walk away and be a farmer

Former undisputed UFC bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey has been urged to avoid a much-speculated return to the Octagon by former referee turned Bellator MMA color-commentator, John McCarthy, with the veteran claiming Rousey should turn her attention to farming instead.

Rousey, a former undisputed Strikeforce bantamweight champion an inaugural UFC bantamweight titleholder, has been sidelined from mixed martial arts competition since headlining UFC 207 back in December 2016.

Suffering her second career loss that night in Las Vegas, Nevada, Rousey dropped a stunning 48-second standing TKO loss to former undisputed featherweight and bantamweight titleholder, Amanda Nunes.

Departing the sport boasting a 12-2 professional record, Riverside native, Ronda Rousey suffered a stunning second round high-kick knockout loss to Holly Holm the year prior in an attempt title defense in Australia.

Since switching her talents to professional wrestling, Rousey has enjoyed a gold-laden spell with the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), however, according to recent reports, the judoka veteran is tipped to depart the organization before WrestleMania – which is tapped to take place in April of next year.

Linked with a potential return to the Octagon as a result – paired with the recent retirement of Brazilian favorite, Nunes back in June after her UFC 288 win, fuel was added to the proverbial fire last night, with Ronda Rousey posting an advertisement promoting this weekend’s UFC 290 card during International Fight Week.

John McCarthy urges Ronda Rousey to avoid a UFC return

However, in the wake of constant links to an Octagon comeback, Ronda Rousey has been urged to avoid a return by former referee, McCarthy.

“Look, I love Ronda (Rousey),” McCarthy said on his podcast. “I’ve known Ronda for a long time. I think she’s – a lot of people don’t understand Ronda and her mindset, who she is. If she wants to come back, I’d be surprised that she wants to come back. She’s got a whole life, and she’s made a ton of money. And she can do whatever she wants. She’s got a husband sitting there, she now has a baby sitting there. And she’s got her Browsey Acres that she is very functional in and loves to be part of and wants to be there. And when you’re talking about fighting, now it’s about time. Time away from all of that.”

“Could she make money trying to go back to the UFC?” McCarthy explained. “Yeah, Dana (White) would pay her a sh*t load. But it probably wouldn’t be the smart thing for her to. She’s got a great life. Great career in the UFC, great career in the WWE. Walk away and be a farmer.” (H/T MMA News)

Irene Aldana ‘sh*t the bed’ against Amanda Nunes says ex-UFC employee

Irene AldanaIrene Aldana completely “sh*t the bed” in her bantamweight title fight with Amanda Nunes. That is according to the former UFC-referee-turned-Bellator MMA commentator ‘Big’ John McCarthy. On Saturday night, Aldana stepped into the main event spotlight for a long-awaited showdown with the general consensus women’s MMA GOAT, Amanda Nunes. While Aldana went into the contest […]

Irene Aldana

Irene Aldana completely “sh*t the bed” in her bantamweight title fight with Amanda Nunes.

That is according to the former UFC-referee-turned-Bellator MMA commentator ‘Big’ John McCarthy. On Saturday night, Aldana stepped into the main event spotlight for a long-awaited showdown with the general consensus women’s MMA GOAT, Amanda Nunes. While Aldana went into the contest as a considerable underdog, nobody expected her to take the shellacking that ‘The Lioness’ handed her in the Great White North.

Through five rounds, Nunes outstruck Aldana 196 to 57 and landed six of 13 takes in the process, amassing seven minutes of control time. It was such a one-sided affair that one judge even scored it 50-43 in favor of Nunes.

Irene Aldana has been the subject of significant criticism following her stagnant performance at UFC 289. Appearing on his Weighing In podcast alongside Josh Thomspon, John McCarthy offered his take on Aldana’s performance and pulled no punches in the process.

“She sh*t the bed. Let’s just be honest,” McCarthy said. “No disrespect, the moment got to her. She gave too much respect. It was overwhelming. She didn’t throw… just no output. How are you expecting to win if you’re not f*cking throwing things back at her (Nunes)? Setting things up, making things happen. You’ve gotta go. This is your chance. This is it. You have been waiting for this. Now is your opportunity, and you just let it go by” (h/t MMA News).

Irene Aldana Apologizes For Poor Performance at UFC 289

Following the decisive defeat, Irene Aldana took to Instagram and issued an apology to her fans and coaches for the uninspired showing.

“I’m sorry to have failed my coaches and all of you, I assure you that this does not stay like this… it was a bad night,” Aldana said in a statement on social media. “But the goal is still clear and the objective is still that 4th belt… I promised you and I’m going to fulfil it… whatever the cost.”

After having her hand raised, Amanda Nunes promptly announced her retirement from mixed martial arts, laying down her UFC title belts and gloves inside the Octagon. With ‘The Lioness’ now out of the picture, the bantamweight division is wide open with multiple fighters chomping at the bit to get their shot at the newly vacated title. Julianna Pena, the woman who was originally scheduled to scrap with Nunes at UFC 289, will likely find herself in the next bantamweight title tilt, but who will it be against?

All signs point toward veteran Raquel Pennington who served as the official backup for Saturday’s main event between Irene Aldana and Amanda Nunes. Streaking standout Erin Blanchfield has also thrown her name into the hat of potential contenders.

Who would you like to see square off with the ‘Venezuelan Vixen‘ for the 135-pound crown?

John McCarthy backs Nate Diaz following New Orleans brawl: ‘Play stupid games, win stupid prizes’

Nate DiazBig’ John McCarthy believes Rodney Petersen, the Logan Paul look-a-like that Nate Diaz choked out during a brawl on Bourbon Street over the weekend, should also be held accountable for engaging in the now-viral brawl. Nate Diaz has been in the news practically non-stop after taking part in multiple altercations, all started with nothing more […]

Nate Diaz

Big’ John McCarthy believes Rodney Petersen, the Logan Paul look-a-like that Nate Diaz choked out during a brawl on Bourbon Street over the weekend, should also be held accountable for engaging in the now-viral brawl.

Nate Diaz has been in the news practically non-stop after taking part in multiple altercations, all started with nothing more than a 99-cent bottle of water. What began as a brief scuffle inside the XULA Convocation Centre escalated into a full-on street fight involving Diaz, reality TV star Chase DeMoor, and a slew of others, including a Logan Paul doppelganger that became famous overnight after being rendered unconscious by the Stockton Samurai.

On Monday, three days after the incident, the New Orleans PD announced that a warrant had been issued for Nate Diaz, charging him with second-degree battery. If convicted, Diaz could face up to eight years in prison and/or a $2,000 fine. A representative for the ex-UFC star confirmed that his lawyer had been in contact with the local police department and intended to cooperate. Sharing his two cents on the subject matter was former UFC referee turned-Bellator MMA commentator John McCarthy. Appearing on his WEIGHING IN podcast alongside Josh Thomson, McCarthy sided with Diaz, suggesting that the “look-a-like boy” played a stupid game and won an appropriate prize.

“There’s a simple way to look at it. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes,” McCarthy said. “You wanted to play the game and now that you’re on film getting choked out and you have a little boo-boo on the back of your head… Hey stupid, all you had to do was walk the other way, but no. You want to play stupid games. Well, you won a stupid prize. Congratulations.

“The fact that they’re going to put this whole thing… Will they end up putting Nate in jail? No. Can they end up booking him on this with the warrant? Yes. Can they end up filing the case and actually trying to go through with it? Yes. Can they actually find him guilty of it? Yeah, they could possibly. What are they going to do with it?”

John McCarthy Wants to See Nate Diaz and Rodney Petersen Held Equally Responsible for Their Role in Viral Confrontation

John McCarthy hopes that both Nate Diaz and Rodney Petersen will face legal ramifications for their part in the confrontation rather than only punishing the “winner.”

“Really what you have is mutual combat. You have someone, all this is going on and now they come together,” McCarthy continued. “He handled it the safest way you can handle it. He didn’t throw punches. As soon as he went out, he let him go. Now, he falls kind of forward and the guy’s head kind of springs out and it smacks the ground which is not good, but again, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

“They better be charging the look-a-like boy with the cracked head. They need to be charging him. Why is it only the winner is the one we’ll go after? No. It’s mutual.”

Nate Diaz is currently scheduled to make his professional boxing debut on August 5 against social media sensation Jake Paul. It is unclear if Diaz’s legal issues will affect his ability to make the date, but YouTuber and pro boxer KSI has already offered to step in and scrap with ‘The Problem Child’ should things fall through with the Stockton native.

‘Big’ John McCarthy declares Michael Chandler facing Conor McGregor is “The dumbest idea ever.”

'Big' John McCarthy declares Michael Chandler facing Conor McGregor fighting is "The Dumbest Idea Ever."‘Big’ John McCarthy has weighed in on Michael Chandler agreeing to a showdown against Conor McGregor. The US-Born Chandler and Irish superstar McGregor have agreed to a fight after coaching a season of The Ultimate Fighter. Rumour has it that this fight will be at 170 lbs. McGregor is a former two-division world champion in […]

'Big' John McCarthy declares Michael Chandler facing Conor McGregor fighting is "The Dumbest Idea Ever."

‘Big’ John McCarthy has weighed in on Michael Chandler agreeing to a showdown against Conor McGregor. The US-Born Chandler and Irish superstar McGregor have agreed to a fight after coaching a season of The Ultimate Fighter. Rumour has it that this fight will be at 170 lbs.

McGregor is a former two-division world champion in the UFC having simultaneously captured the featherweight and lightweight thrones. He has been out of action since going 0-2 against Dustin Poirier in 2021 and has been recovering from a broken leg. ‘Notorious’ Conor McGregor plans on making a comeback to the octagon in 2023.

Michael Chandler is a former multi-time Bellator lightweight world champion who made his UFC debut in early 2021. Since then, he has put together a record of 2-3 in the organization but has created a reputation for the excitement he brings in every fight. In just five fights, win or lose, he has earned four performance bonuses.

John McCarthy thinks Chandler accepting a Conor McGregor fight is dumb

Alongside his co-host Josh Thompson, on their podcast, ‘Big’ John McCarthy discussed how he feels about Chandler taking a fight against Conor McGregor. McCarthy explained:

“No [Chandler isn’t beating McGregor]. [But] I would love to think so,” McCarthy began. “Michael has that, for whatever reason, in his mind, it’s more important to be exciting than it is to win. And in this fight right here, it’s the dumbest idea ever. Because if you get the win, what does that mean? You probably get a second one. Which means you can do what Dustin Poirier did.”

He added:

“And you put yourself in a position to make great money because Conor brings big money,” he continued. “And if Michael Chandler was smart, he would work on his wrestling, he would just hone it to a fine edge and be able to put pressure, and take the blueprint that you saw from Khabib and use that blueprint to beat Conor and get that win and then, you wanna be exciting in the in the rematch? go ahead yeah, I don’t care, but you’re talking about retirement money.” [Transcript courtesy Middle Easy]

Is McCarthy right on the money in this case?

See the full podcast episode below:

‘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 […]

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

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.”

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