John McCarthy believes the UFC could benefit from adding an on-air rules analyst like other professional sports such as the NBA and NFL.
Itâs a role McCarthy is currently executing under the PFL banner, but his future with the promotion is uncertain following the completion of his current contract. McCarthy enjoys it, and the convenience of being able to work from home.
âI gotta be honest, the PFL set me up with a thing at my house, and it was great because if thereâs one thing I canât stand, I hate flying now,â McCarthy told MMA Junkie Radio. âI have flown too many places all over the world, too many times. I hate getting on airplanes and I hate airports.
âSo, it was fantastic as far as how easy it was for my life and my lifestyle. I was able to spend a day working on PFL stuff, then do the show, and be away from it. I didnât have to fly home or any of that, so it was awesome. If it continues on, great. If it doesnât, no hard feelings, itâs all good.â
McCarthy, who literally helped write the Unified Rules of MMA, knows the book inside and out. Heâs one of the most recognizable officials in the history of the sport and transitioned to the commentary desk with Bellator. While he enjoys his role with the PFL, if the opportunity presented itself to bring an on-air rules analyst role to UFC broadcasts, he would do it.
âOh, absolutely,â McCarthy said. âI donât know if the UFC would want me, but yeah, I could do it with the UFC. And Iâm being honest, I think itâs something the UFC needs. They have too many times that their commentators are unsure about what is going on or what should be done, and thatâs not their fault. Their commentators are there to explain the ins and outs of fighting to the fans. To sit there and expect them to know all the rules and what the mechanics of the referee is and what they need â they canât do that.
âSo, they have Din Thomas kind of off to the side as the coach. I do think they need, and Iâm not saying itâs me, but they need somebody there to absolutely clear things up for the fans when they are in a situation when the time has been stopped, a foul has occurred, or something like that, and gives the correct information about whatâs occuring and where they can go with what has happened.â
Veteran official John McCarthy likes where MMA is currently at in terms of its ruleset and officiating. However, that doesnât mean there arenât things he would change.
McCarthy, a retired MMA referee who helped create the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts rule set in the early 2000s, wants to see the sport adopt knees to a grounded opponent â which are currently illegal.
âI would love to see it knees to the head someday, but I donât think itâs going to happen, but I would like to see it,â McCarthy told MMA Junkie Radio. âI think it would be a good thing for the sport.â
Knees to a grounded opponent have long been a divisive and controversial topic in MMA. Many romanticize them, as they were a key aspect of the now-defunct Japanese MMA promotion PRIDE FC and are currently allowed in Rizin FF and ONE Championship in Asia, while some think they are too brutal.
McCarthy thinks knees to a grounded opponent would make the MMA more realistic and exciting.
âIâm going to be honest, as a fan of the sport and even as an official, I look and say knees to the head to someone thatâs on the ground, not soccer kicks, itâs different, but knees to the head of somebody on the ground could be effective in the fight,â McCarthy explained. âWhat it can do is that it keeps the defensive fighter from putting themselves in positions that they could be attacked with a knee if it was legal, but they know that they canât, so theyâre utilizing rules to protect themselves than skill sets.
âYou go and you watch fighters that switch organizations to Rizin or ONE and have to change. They change quickly. Demetrious Johnson was a guy that got hurt and lost to Moraes off of a knee when he was grounded, but he learned from it and came back.
The main argument against knees to a grounded opponent is that they make the sport more dangerous. However, McCarthy disagrees.
âWhen you sit there and look at it and go, âWell, thatâs terrible for the fighter,â whatâs the difference between being able to knee someone on the head when theyâre standing or if theyâre on the ground? There is no difference,â McCarthy said. âI look at it and say that I honestly believe that knees to the head should be opened up. It would open the fight up and make the fights a little bit more realistic and more exciting at times. Any time you give an offensive tool to a fighter, it opens the fight up.â
Sorry john but even the hardcores think youâre a fucking joke.
Go away.
Signed,
Everyone
So the UFC needs to give air time for someone to explain why fence grabbing, eye poking and groin shots are legal twice during each fight?
Lol why does everyone here hate Big John so much?
Big John is terrible on commentary (talks to the audience like we are retarded), but his podcast with Josh Thomson is solid. Heâs not bad when talking about the rules over at PFL.
I myself have heard him tell different versions of events multiple times.
Plus hes a cop. Hes always right.
He makes old fights almost unwatchable. I donât know how we ever put up with that guy.
Constantly interjecting himself into fights, seemingly every 10 seconds. Plus heâs a cop and his âcatch phraseâ is gay.
Heâs the type of cop to not only ticket you for going 3mph over, but give you a ten-minute roadside lecture on why he wrote the ticket.
Plus, heâs responsible for the culture of over-involved refs.
He taught them all to behave like overzealous traffic cops.
Referees should behave like Milford menâŚ
Neither seen NOR heard.
Tell this to ONE Championship whoâs referees never stop screaming at the fighters to brawl
The only one worse than him is that fat British one.
No.
I wouldnât mind them having somebody that actually knew what the fuck was going on. He has to be better than DC just screaming OHH when something happens.
xxoo @Arod_CTT