“Big” John McCarthy has been officiating for the Ultimate Fighting Championship since their first event, and is much as part of the company as someone like Joe Rogan. McCarthy may actually get recognized more than half of the fighters under the UFC banner, showing just how popular of a referee McCarthy’s become due to his consistency inside the octagon.
McCarthy does not mess around and rarely ever makes a bad call. The best referees are not noticed during the bout, just before and after as they only choose to step in when they need to. McCarthy’s main interest is the safety of the fighters and he recently opened up about which two strikes he would never allow to be thrown inside the world-famous octagon:
@JohnMcCarthyMMA Hi John, huge fan here. Do you think that we will ever see soccer kicks and 12-6 elbows in MMA? Would be good additions
— M8A7 (@NakedPandaJuice) March 27, 2017
Soccer kicks to the head of a grounded fighter "NO"! 12 to 6, maybe someday #AskBJM https://t.co/REMErv5dNq
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) March 27, 2017
@JohnMcCarthyMMA How about knees to the head of ground opponent?
— Namreka (@JNamreka) March 27, 2017
Ain't gonna happen #AskBJM https://t.co/36YqItUMTZ
— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) March 27, 2017
