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John McCarthy trashes “complete dumbass” Texas MMA judge for controversial scorecard in Bobby Green fight: “Go back to class… and get the f*ck off Twitter”
Veteran MMA official John McCarthy trashed Texas MMA judge JJ Ferraro for his scoring in the Bobby Green vs. Rafael Fiziev fight at UFC 265. Although most observers saw the fight as a clear 29-28 victory for Fiziev, with him winning the first two rounds and then Green taking the third, Ferraro scored the bout […]
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John McCarthy explains why Ciryl Gane vs. Derrick Lewis should not be for interim UFC heavyweight title
Bellator analyst John McCarthy explained why Ciryl Gane vs. Derrick Lewis should not be fighting for the interim heavyweight title at UFC 265. Gane vs. Lewis headlines UFC 265 next Saturday night at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The UFC creating an interim belt was controversial because UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou won his title […]
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John McCarthy scolds referee Al Guinee for failing to notice that Jamahal Hill had dislocated his arm in UFC 263 fight with Paul Craig
John McCarthy scolded referee Al Guinee for failing to notice that Jamahal Hill had dislocated his arm in UFC 263 fight with Paul Craig. The UFC headed to Glendale, Arizona for UFC 263, and the athletic commission hired Guinee, a local referee on the regional circuit there, to handle several of the fights on the […]
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John McCarthy criticizes ONE Championship referee who DQed Eddie Alvarez
Legendary MMA referee John McCarthy criticized the referee in ONE Championship who DQed Eddie Alvarez at ONE on TNT 1 last week. Referee Justin Brown took matters into his own hands when he handed Alvarez a red card and a DQ loss last Wednesday at ONE on TNT 1. In the fight, Alvarez took his […]
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Aljamain Sterling responds to criticism from veteran referee John McCarthy
UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling responded to criticism from veteran referee John McCarthy about the Petr Yan illegal knee. Sterling won the UFC’s 135lbs belt at UFC 259 earlier this month in controversial fashion after Yan landed a knee to the head of a downed opponent and was disqualified. Referee Mark Smith deemed the knee […]
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John McCarthy shares his thoughts on the stoppages from referee Herb Dean at UFC Vegas 19
John McCarthy has assessed Herb Dean’s performance at UFC Vegas 19. In the main event of the card, Dean was the third man in the Octagon for Derrick Lewis vs Curtis Blaydes. In the early going, Dean was doing a solid job monitoring the eye pokes. Yet, as Lewis landed the KO punch, “The Black […]
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John McCarthy roasts “little clickbait b*tch” Dana White over anti-media video
Bellator MMA commentator John McCarthy was not impressed by UFC President Dana White’s recent anti-media video. 2020 has been a very successful year for White and the UFC, contrary to the strains and challenges presented by the pandemic. That being said, White’s decision to continue operating throughout this global health crisis has generated plenty of […]
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John McCarthy scolds the UFC for making up “fake stats” for Khamzat Chimaev
Legendary mixed martial arts official John McCarthy called out the UFC for making up “fake stats” about Khamzat Chimaev during last night’s UFC Vegas 11 broadcast. On the main card of yesterday’s event in Nevada, rising star Khamzat Chimaev (9-0 MMA) squared off with seasoned middleweight veteran Gerald Meerschaert. The result was another sensational stoppage […]
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John McCarthy weighs in on referee Herb Dean’s controversial stoppage at UFC Fight Island 3
John McCarthy has shared his thoughts on referee Herb Dean’s controversial stoppage in Saturday’s Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert fight. The lightweight contest, which served as the featured prelim of UFC Fight Island 3, was called off shortly after Trinaldo landed a hard punch that sent Herbert crashing to the canvas. Although Jai appeared to […]
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John McCarthy explains why Max Holloway was “jobbed” by the judges at UFC 251
Legendary MMA official Big John McCarthy believes that Max Holloway was “jobbed” and should have won the UFC featherweight title against Alex Volkanovski. Holloway lost a narrow split decision to Volkanovski in his bid to re-capture the UFC featherweight crown that he lost to his rival Volkanovski back at UFC 245 last December. It appeared […]
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John McCarthy explains why UFC could remove Mark Collett from Fight Island after poor judging performance
Long-time MMA official Big John McCarthy explained why the UFC could remove judge Mark Collett from Fight Island after a poor judging performance at UFC 251. Collett is one of the judges the UFC hired to work the Fight Island series. However, he had a very questionable night of judging that has been criticized by […]
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Jon Jones not interested in responding to John McCarthy’s claims regarding UFC 165 win over Alexander Gustafsson
Jon Jones has opted to take the high road after John McCarthy recently claimed that he was responsible for ‘Bones’ taking home a win at UFC 165. For those who don’t remember, ‘Bones’ had put his light heavyweight title on the line against Alexander Gustafsson in September of 2013. The result was arguably the greatest […]
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Referee John McCarthy claims Jon Jones “would have lost his world title if I wasn’t doing his fight at UFC 165”
Veteran mixed martial arts referee John McCarthy claims Jon Jones would have lost his world title at UFC 165 if it were not for him. Jones (26-1 MMA) squared off with Alexander Gustafsson for the first time at the September 2013 pay-per-view event in Toronto, which resulted in arguably the greatest light heavyweight contest in […]
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John McCarthy explains why the UFC prefers to use a smaller cage
Veteran MMA official Big John McCarthy explained why the UFC prefers to use a smaller cage whenever possible, saying it creates more action. The UFC typically uses a 30-foot cage at its big pay-per-views and big ESPN events at arenas but tends to use a 25-foot cage for its Fight Night cards. It also used […]
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John McCarthy believes second attempt at UFC 249 will be successful
Veteran MMA referee turned Bellator commentator John McCarthy believes the UFC’s second stab at promoting UFC 249 will be a success. UFC 249 was originally expected to go down in Las Vegas on April 18. As the coronavirus crisis took hold, however, the card was briefly relocated to the Tachi Palace Casino on the same […]
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John McCarthy shares thoughts on UFC 249 cancelation: “It wasn’t Dana that shut it down”
Veteran MMA referee John McCarthy believes the top dogs at Disney and ESPN asked UFC President Dana White to cancel UFC 249 because they were concerned about the optics of going ahead with the event during a public health crisis. McCarthy weighed in on the cancelation of the card, which was most recently expected to […]
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MMA Judges redo scores for UFC 247 Jones vs Reyes bout in digital lesson
MMA judges are refining their skills with the help of referee Big John McCarthy, as they rejudge the controversial UFC 247 Jones vs Reyes fight. Judges competency is a common cause of contention in the evergrowing sport. MMA professionals such as Joe Rogan and Dominick Cruz have slammed judges for inaccurate point-scoring. During UFC 247 […]
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John McCarthy guarantees ‘absolute loser’ Jon Jones will go to jail after recent arrest
Big John McCarthy said that he guarantees Jon Jones will serve jail for his recent DWI arrest and called the light heavyweight champion “an absolute loser.” The long-time MMA official was a police officer in Los Angeles before he became the most important referee in mixed martial arts history. On the latest edition of the […]
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John McCarthy weighs in on Jon Jones’ recent arrest
Veteran referee John McCarthy has given fans his thoughts on the recent arrest of UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones. The incident involving Jones in Albuquerque has been discussed to death by the mixed martial arts community, with the general consensus being that “Bones” probably needs to get some help before things continue to escalate. […]
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Top MMA podcasts to listen to during coronavirus isolation
With the looming threat of Coronavirus causing everybody to isolate themselves, BJPENN.com has curated a list of the top MMA podcasts for you to listen to (in no particular order). Now, you can fill your brain with an unlimited stream of MMA information and keep boredom at bay. Believe You Me with Michael Bisping and […]
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Referee John McCarthy explains the proper way to judge an MMA bout
Legendary MMA referee Big John McCarthy recently explained the proper way to judge an MMA fight, using Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero as an example. McCarthy is the most experienced official in mixed martial arts and was instrumental in the creation of the Unified Rules of MMA and the judging criteria for the sports. Since […]
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John McCarthy says Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero should have included 10-10 round
Bellator commentator and MMA official John McCarthy believes that there should have been a 10-10 round scored in the Israel Adesanya vs. Yoel Romero title fight at UFC 248. Adesanya won a unanimous decision on the judges’ scorecards to retain the UFC middleweight title in an undeniable stinker of a fight. Neither man seemed to […]
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John McCarthy gives his scorecard for Weili Zhang vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk
Bellator commentator and veteran MMA official Big John McCarthy has share his scorecard for the UFC 248 co-main event between Weili Zhang and Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Zhang and Jedrzejczyk put on an instant classic on Saturday night, going the full five-round distance against each other in an all-out war. Zhang won the fight by split decision, […]
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John McCarthy: ‘Dana White should be kissing my a**’ for ‘some of the things that I did’
Former referee Big John McCarthy believes Dana White owes him a thank you — maybe even some butt-kissing. McCarthy has been instrumental in overseeing MMA fights since the sport’s early days. He made his officiating debut in the UFC at the promotion’s second show, all the way back 1994. Since then, he has gone on […]
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John McCarthy announces 2020 COMMAND Course in hopes of improving refereeing and judging in MMA
Referee Big John McCarthy has re-launched his COMMAND Course in hopes of improving MMA refereeing and nurturing the next generation of talent. Though he is now retired from officiating, John McCarthy is widely regarded as one of the best referees in MMA. Industry experts including Joe Rogan have praised his aptitude as a ref and […]
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John McCarthy blasts referee for “horrendous” Ion Cutelaba vs Magomed Ankalaev decision
Referee royalty, Big John McCarthy is less than impressed with the referee’s controversial ruling in the Ion Cutelaba vs Magomed Ankalaev bout at UFC Norfolk. Last weekend, the light heavyweight fight already got off to a strange start when Cutelaba walked across the canvas to bump into his Russian opponent. Security entered to separate the […]
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John McCarthy on Diego Sanchez following UFC Rio Rancho: “How many fights is enough fights?”
Referee John McCarthy believes there is just “something completely different” about Diego Sanchez following last weekend’s UFC event in Rio Rancho. The UFC legend, Sanchez, picked up a disqualification victory over Michel Pereira in front of a home crowd in New Mexico Saturday night. After dominating the majority of the opening two rounds, it appeared […]
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John McCarthy trashes UFC 247 judging: ‘It was bad’
Bellator commentator and veteran MMA official Big John McCarthy trashed the judging at UFC 247, saying the judges did a poor job scoring the fights. The judges were involved in a number of controversial decisions at UFC 247 which has re-ignited the debate about how to score fights in MMA and whether or not the […]