John McCarthy lays out why Khabib Nurmagomedov is not the GOAT: ‘He did retire too early’

John McCarthy, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dana WhiteJohn McCarthy does not believe Khabib Nurmagomedov is the greatest mixed martial artist of all time. Big John, one of the most reputed MMA officials, agrees with UFC president Dana White that the former lightweight champion can not be called the GOAT. Khabib had a dominant run in the promotion for as long as it […]

John McCarthy, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Dana White

John McCarthy does not believe Khabib Nurmagomedov is the greatest mixed martial artist of all time.

Big John, one of the most reputed MMA officials, agrees with UFC president Dana White that the former lightweight champion can not be called the GOAT. Khabib had a dominant run in the promotion for as long as it lasted, maintaining an unblemished record of 29-0 by the time he chose to hang up the gloves.

John McCarthy agrees with Dana White that Khabib is not the GOAT

In an episode of his podcast with Josh Thompson, McCarthy shared his thoughts on the GOAT debate and extended his support for Dana White’s take.

“I don’t disagree with him at all [Dana White claiming Khabib isn’t the MMA GOAT]. I think that he did retire too early. I’ve always said the most dominant fighter I’ve seen in the cage has been Khabib. He dominated great fighters, 10-8 rounds, consistently at times, [but] Jon Jones is the most talented fighter that I’ve seen in the cage,” McCarthy noted (h/t Sportskeeda).

Khabib never appeared to be in any real danger in any of his fights. Jones on the other hand might have had close bouts but also has a ton more experience inside the cage at the highest level.

“Here’s the big difference: Jon Jones has had 15 title fights. How many title fights does Khabib have? That’s a huge difference, and I think that’s what Dana is talking about. I think Jon Jones is [the best ever],” McCarthy added.

Although Khabib retired undefeated, many believe that he stepped away too soon. With 13 bouts and only three title defenses in the organization, it is hard to stack up his resume against someone like Jones, who has more title fights (15) than Khabib’s entire UFC career.

Do you agree with John McCarthy?

McCarthy On Lewis Stoppage: ‘He Always Goes Face Down, Ass Up’

Renowned former referee John McCarthy has given his take on the controversial stoppage in the heavyweight fight between Derrick Lewis and Sergei Pavlovich. This past weekend at UFC 277, Lewis looked to break his streak of Texas defeats, which has seen …

Renowned former referee John McCarthy has given his take on the controversial stoppage in the heavyweight fight between Derrick Lewis and Sergei Pavlovich. This past weekend at UFC 277, Lewis looked to break his streak of Texas defeats, which has seen him bested in his home state by Ciryl Gane last September and Tai Tuivasa…

Continue Reading McCarthy On Lewis Stoppage: ‘He Always Goes Face Down, Ass Up’ at MMA News.

John McCarthy Clarifies Hot Take On Hypothetical Usman/Diaz Bout

John McCarthy has attempted to clarify some controversial recent comments, which saw him suggest that veteran Nick Diaz would ‘light up’ UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman in a hypothetical fight. Last month, fan favorite Diaz expressed a desire to return to the Octagon later this year, with his preference being a title fight against “The…

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John McCarthy has attempted to clarify some controversial recent comments, which saw him suggest that veteran Nick Diaz would ‘light up’ UFC Welterweight Champion Kamaru Usman in a hypothetical fight.

Last month, fan favorite Diaz expressed a desire to return to the Octagon later this year, with his preference being a title fight against “The Nigerian Nightmare.” Given the Stockton native’s underwhelming return to competition last September against Robbie Lawler, most emphatically dismissed the 38-year-old’s remarks.

But one man who didn’t was former UFC referee McCarthy, who appeared to believe that Diaz would be able to find success on the feet against Usman, who has defeated the likes of Colby Covington and Gilbert Burns, and brutally knocked Jorge Masvidal out last April.

Unsurprisingly, McCarthy’s comments met severe backlash, not least from social media rival Aljamain Sterling. The bantamweight titleholder, who has gone back and forth with the Bellator analyst since some words were exchanged over his UFC 273 title defense, took to Twitter to question whether McCarthy even watches fights.

Now, after a host of MMA personalities shared their disagreement with his take, McCarthy has sought to explain them.

In a recent episode of his Weighing In podcast, the 59-year-old clarified that he doesn’t actually believe Diaz should receive a title shot, nor does he think that the Stockton native would be able to dethrone Usman.

While he remained firm on the idea that Diaz has the striking abilities to cause anyone issues on the feet, McCarthy did admit to omitting a crucial “if” in his statement, which would have certainly lessened the barrage of criticism that followed the comments.

“I don’t think that Nick should be put in against Kamaru. I don’t think that’s the fight. And very simply put, I even said back then, Kamaru wins that fight,” said McCarthy. “What I should’ve said is if Kamaru will start standing up with him, and if he starts to get lit up, he’s going to go right to his wrestling.

“The ‘if’ should’ve been put in there. I wasn’t saying that he was gonna get lit up. I was saying, you know, don’t take anything from Nick Diaz in the standup game. He will cause anyone problems,” added McCarthy. (h/t Sportskeeda)

This marks the second time in recent memory that McCarthy has somewhat retracted or altered a previous statement. He notably did the same following April’s UFC 273 pay-per-view, which saw Sterling defend his bantamweight gold against Petr Yan.

The former referee initially slammed the judges for the verdict, suggesting there was “no way” that Sterling won the result-deciding first round. After rewatching and assessing the frame closer, McCarthy changed his tune, admitting that the round was “razor-close.”

What do you make of John McCarthy’s clarification?

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Aljamain Sterling Hits Out At John McCarthy For Usman vs. Diaz Take

Aljamain Sterling has hit out at John McCarthy for his take on a potential Kamaru Usman vs. Nick Diaz fight. McCarthy recently took to his podcast with Josh Thomson, ‘Weighing In,’ to offer his take on what he’d like to see next regarding a potential fight for Nick Diaz. Diaz himself has said he wants…

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling Hits Out At John McCarthy For Usman vs. Diaz Take at MMA News.

Aljamain Sterling has hit out at John McCarthy for his take on a potential Kamaru Usman vs. Nick Diaz fight.

McCarthy recently took to his podcast with Josh Thomson, ‘Weighing In,’ to offer his take on what he’d like to see next regarding a potential fight for Nick Diaz. Diaz himself has said he wants to compete for the title at this point in his career.

That would mean a clash with current reigning champion Kamaru Usman. McCarthy suggested that Diaz’s best avenue to victory in that fight would be standing with Usman; however, “The Nigerian Nightmare” likely wouldn’t keep the fight on the feet for long.

“Kamaru would stand with him until he starts getting lit up. Then he’s going to go and use his wrestling, which he should, I’m not saying he shouldn’t…

“I don’t think that Kamaru would be standing up against Nick that long.”

This prompted a response from the UFC bantamweight champion, Sterling, who took to Instagram to react to McCarthy’s news with a video.

“Tweeting to an article about McCarthy saying that Kamaru Usman would get lit up by Nick Diaz and resort to wrestling.

“I didn’t read the whole thing but that’s enough for me to go ‘bro, in what freaking universe are you living in?’

“We are talking about two different eras right here. No way this can happen. John McCarthy must be stopped.”

Sterling then followed up with a Tweet hitting out against McCarthy’s take as well.

“Can someone please stop this man? How are ppl still taking this man’s words serious? I wonder if he’s the one taking all the shots to the head

“Lol bruh, Diaz is a G, but this is a new era. I’m starting to feel like he doesn’t even watch the fights”

This isn’t the first time Sterling and McCarthy have been at odds. McCarthy was one of the most skeptical of Sterling’s controversial UFC 259 injury that led to his bantamweight title win.

More recently, Sterling blasted McCarthy for stating that Yan was the rightful winner of the UFC 273 rematch, but McCarthy has since walked back those comments.

What do you make of Aljamain Sterling hitting out at McCarthy for his take on a potential Usman vs. Diaz fight? Sound off in the comments below!

Continue Reading Aljamain Sterling Hits Out At John McCarthy For Usman vs. Diaz Take at MMA News.

John McCarthy Wouldn’t Mind Seeing Nick Diaz Return To A “Title Fight”

Longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) referee John McCarthy wants to see Nick Diaz face Jorge Masvidal for the BMF Championship. McCarthy took to his podcast with Josh Thomson, ‘Weighing In,’ to discuss what could be next for Diaz. One matchup McCarthy would like to see is a BMF Championship bout between Diaz and Jorge Masvidal….

Continue Reading John McCarthy Wouldn’t Mind Seeing Nick Diaz Return To A “Title Fight” at MMA News.

Longtime mixed martial arts (MMA) referee John McCarthy wants to see Nick Diaz face Jorge Masvidal for the BMF Championship.

McCarthy took to his podcast with Josh Thomson, ‘Weighing In,’ to discuss what could be next for Diaz. One matchup McCarthy would like to see is a BMF Championship bout between Diaz and Jorge Masvidal.

“I wouldn’t mind watching him fight for the title. But I said title and that doesn’t mean that I am talking about the welterweight title. I could be talking about the BMF title.

“I wouldn’t mind watching him and Masvidal fight. Masvidal and his brother fought. I wouldn’t mind watching, you know, Masvidal and Nick fight.

“When Nick came back to the UFC, that was the fight that they should have made right away.”

While Diaz might want to go after a UFC title at this point in his career, that would mean a fight with Kamaru Usman at welterweight. Usman has proven to be one of the most dominant champions 170 pounds has ever seen.

In a potential bout between Usman and Diaz, McCarthy believes Diaz’s best avenue to victory is a high-volume striking approach. However, Usman likely wouldn’t spend much time with Diaz on the feet anyway.

“Kamaru would stand with him until he starts getting lit up. Then he’s going to go and use his wrestling, which he should, I’m not saying he shouldn’t…

“I don’t think that Kamaru would be standing up against Nick that long.”

Diaz made his return to MMA competition after over six years in September of last year. He was finished by Robbie Lawler in the third round of their UFC 266 clash.

The 38-year-old has not closed the door completely on a return to fighting despite the loss.

Who do you think Diaz should fight next? And what do you make of John McCarthy suggesting a BMF Title bout between Diaz and Masvidal? Let us know in the comments!

Quotes via Sportskeeda

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Sonnen Praises John McCarthy For U-Turn On Sterling/Yan First Round

Chael Sonnen has praised former referee John McCarthy’s decision to publicly walk back his comments on the first round of Aljamain Sterling’s rematch with Petr Yan at UFC 273. In the co-main event of the April 9 pay-per-view, Sterling and Yan collided for the second time, with the bad blood built in the aftermath of…

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Chael Sonnen has praised former referee John McCarthy’s decision to publicly walk back his comments on the first round of Aljamain Sterling’s rematch with Petr Yan at UFC 273.

In the co-main event of the April 9 pay-per-view, Sterling and Yan collided for the second time, with the bad blood built in the aftermath of their 2021 meeting evident in the build-up. Against the odds and expectations of many, “Funk Master” put in an impressive performance to secure his first successful title defense via split decision.

In the aftermath, UFC President Dana White revealed his disagreement with the result, as did prominent MMA figure McCarthy. The Bellator analyst assessed the opening round of the contest, which seemed to be the deciding factor in the result, during an episode of his podcast, claiming that there was no way anyone could justify scoring it for Sterling.

What followed was a series of interactions and insults on social media between not only the champ and McCarthy, but also the former ref’s podcast co-host Josh Thomson.

But despite his initial stance, McCarthy later reevaluated his remarks. Some days after defending his opinion on Twitter, the 59-year-old walked back his take, admitting he’d had a change of heart after re-watching the contest.

Like Sterling, former two-division UFC title challenger Chael Sonnen respects the fact that “Big” John was able to admit he was wrong after being confronted with evidence.

“John amended his statement, and that was a cool move. He did not have to do that,” said Sonnen during a video uploaded to his YouTube channel. “I thought this was pretty clear 3-2 (Sterling). Big John came out and said, ‘No, no, no. You cannot give that first round to Sterling. There’s no way to do that.’ He was pretty definitive on it. Sterling spoke up, it really pissed him off.

“X amount of time has gone by, where are we at? A month, more than a month, closer to two, John comes out and says, ‘I was wrong.’ I like that, I like anytime somebody is willing to be wrong when they’re confronted with evidence they had not previously considered,” added Sonnen. “It’s one of those great things about leadership.”

While Sonnen is no stranger to posting reactionary opinions online, as he admitted in the video, he believes that McCarthy’s reputation and place in the sport makes accuracy all that more important.

Sonnen: McCarthy Maintained Credibility With Backtrack

McCarthy, who featured as a referee inside the Octagon from 1994 to 2018, is widely credited for his role in creating the scoring criteria used to judge mixed martial arts bouts.

With that in mind, and with his efforts to educate the next generation of officials and judges, Sonnen believes that McCarthy’s decision to publicly backtrack his view on the result was important in maintaining his credibility.

“It’s one of these things where his opinion does matter, so for him to come back and say, ‘You know what, here’s exactly what happened, I re-watched it, I do see how you could come to Sterling.’ He didn’t go as far as to say that was the conclusion he came to,” said Sonnen. “He even said, ‘I did the number one thing I’m not supposed to do, which is I’m hosting a party in my living room, I got buddies over, thinking I’m seeing all the action.’

“So after his statements and in light of it, and not to mention six to eight weeks have gone by, he watches it and he goes to the same form, which was the Internet. He made the statement on the Internet, he returned to the Internet to amend the statement. I liked it, I really do,” continued Sonnen. “I’m a fan, you’re a fan, let’s talk. (But) John does come with a different expectation of accuracy due to the credibility. He maintains his credibility in full. That was an awesome move.”

While he acknowledged and respected McCarthy’s amended thoughts, Sterling seemingly still has a gripe with the 59-year-old’s refusal to acknowledge the second round of the contest as a 10-8.

Sterling has continued to take aim at his detractors and doubters, as well as those who scored the fight in Yan’s favor. While McCarthy took the brunt of the champ’s wrath, the likes of Robert Whittaker and Tai Tuivasa also didn’t escape a mention.

Do you agree with Chael Sonnen?

Continue Reading Sonnen Praises John McCarthy For U-Turn On Sterling/Yan First Round at MMA News.