John McCarthy is weighing in on the performance of Rose Namajunas this past Saturday night at UFC 274, believing poor corner advise is partially to blame for the loss.
It was Rose Namajunas (12-5 MMA) vs Carla Esparza (20-6 MMA) in the strawweight co-main event. Carla was to be the victor by split decision, stripping the title from Rose. While anticipation leading up to the fight was great, the outcome proved to be so lacklustre that some media reports are saying it just might have been the worst UFC title fight in history.
In a recent episode of the ‘Weighing In’ podcast, John McCarthy had this to say about Rose and the fight last Saturday (h/t Sportskeeda):
“One of the things that happened multiple times last night as I was watching… Cornermen need to stop telling their fighters they’re winning the rounds when you don’t know if it’s a close round. You gotta say, ‘Hey, no idea whose round that is.’ Or, ‘We’re gonna have to say that we lost that because we don’t know the way the judges are gonna go.’ You can’t sit there and fall in love with what your fighter is doing based upon, ‘Damn, they look good.’ Rose Namajunas looked fantastic in her movement, her footwork was beautiful, she was in control of the cage as far as… She was comfortable.”
McCarthy, 59, former MMA referee believes that corners need to stop telling their fighters that they won a round if they’re not completely sure. McCarthy believes ‘Thug’ while appearing to be in a better flow than her opponent, lacked the offense which ultimately led to her title loss.
Rose, 29, spoke at UFC 274 post-fight presser saying:
“I don’t get no credit for good defense? I’m always in exciting fights. Like, I can’t have a strategic fight? I got to f*ck up this face, ya know? Like no, f*ck that.”
Regardless of what Rose has to say about a good defense, it’s going to be hard to rebound from what fans and critics alike are saying about the five monotonous rounds largely brimming with inaction inside the cage at UFC 274.
Did you watch Rose vs Carla? What are your thoughts on the match?