“Big” John McCarthy: I Will TiVo The UFC Show
Former UFC referee “Big” John McCarthy recently dished out his thoughts on varying commission rules, boxing vs. MMA, and most notably, his no-holds-barred take on the UFC’s “anti-Affliction” programming:
“I mean, look at that fight. You got your middleweight champion (Anderson Silva), you’re moving up to light-heavyweight to fight James Irvin. What good does that do for him? I mean, (UFC president) Dana (White) feels … obviously he feels there is some competition there with Affliction. He wants to try to do something to damage Affliction. That’s why he is doing this. I look at it and it’s bad for the sport, it’s bad for the fans. There needs to be more than the one promotion.
The UFC is the big one on the block. I would never say anything differently until anything really comes about. But to sit there and try to shove a show in on the same date to say come watch. It’s the same thing they did with the Chuck Liddell special (on Spike TV) the same night as the (EliteXC) fights on CBS. It’s like, come on. The sport is big enough to where there can be more than one. There needs to be more than one. The UFC has what 200 fighters signed or 250 fighters? You know what, there are a whole lot more fighters than that in this world and they need jobs. So there needs to be the other promotions.”
McCarthy went on to praise Affliction’s stacked line up and encourages the masses to skip the live broadcast of Ultimate Fight Night 14:
“Thank God, Affliction is doing what they are doing and putting together … honestly, I’m not saying it to say it, it is the best card with heavyweights that has ever been put together by any organization in, at least North America, and probably in the world ever. You’ve got three ex-UFC champions (Tim Sylvia, Josh Barnett and Andre Arlovski). You’ve got the ex-PRIDE champion in Fedor (Emelianenko) and you have other guys. You have Matt Lindland, Vitor Belfort, Mike Whitehead against Renato ‘Babalu’ (Sobral). You’ve got some great fights there. It’s going to be a hell of a card. Go and watch the one live and TiVo the UFC show. That’s what I’m going to do. I will TiVo the UFC show.â€
McCarthy pretty much said what I and I’m sure many others were already thinking about the recently announced UFN 14 show- DVR that bad boy and watch the big guns on the PPV. But you do have to wonder why Big John feels so compelled to bow down to Affliction while heavily criticizing the UFC’s decisions. Sure the UFC is being small and petty with their spontaneous Ultimate Fight Night card, but I can’t help wondering if we are simply hearing McCarthy’s unfiltered thoughts on the matter, or perhaps a bitter rant from a disgruntled former employee. Either way, I can’t really find fault with any of Big John’s arguments. While the UFN 14 broadcast happens to feature the unstoppable Anderson Silva in a 205lb debut, the show still cannot even hold a candle to the Affliction line up. Sorry Dana.
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Whether Big John is kissing ace or mad at the UFC, I agree 100% with his comments……..
They tried it with Elite XC, i’m sure they budged things a little and stole some viewers but it was still considered successful, ratings were high.
Now I guarantee you that people are going to order Affliction, it will be a success and the UFC is just lowering themselves to this level for nothing.
UFC has nothing to prove and nothing to worry about in my opinion ( not yet anyway ). I don’t know why they are rushing around making these insecure and possibly stupid moves ???????????????
If Sandman knocks out Silva, there gonna wish they relaxed a little because this ” Fight Night ” is not necessary and could turn out to be a complete disaster for them.
I agree totoally…kinda looks pathetic…but I wish there was only one promotion…just like the NBA or MLB…It sucks seeing all these good fighters spread out….I wanna see the best fighting the best!!!! I heard IFL is going out of business?? anyone know anything about that?
Big John might be on the affliction payroll
Anyone know how much the Affliction PPV is?
I already have Tivo set for UFC Fight Night Live.
affliction is $40
i hate saying this but the UFC is very smart…the Affliction card is good but casual fans are where you make the most money with and all of the casual fans are going to watch the free fight night instead.
Im gonna watch UFC and Im not just a casual fan…Iv been watchin mma for a long time.. its more who youd rather see fight
I agree with mrnice I’m a big mma fan so i’m sure i will see both events. But this UFN 14 is going to hurt affliction big time. Casual fans are not going to order the Affliction pay-per-view they rarely order ufc ppvs. I’ve been a fan for a 1 1/2 years and ordered every ppv since ufc 74. If it was not for the internet I would not know who Fedor is or Affliction. Am I watching the wrong channels becuase I’ve never seen the Afflition event advertised.
this is gonna be the first affliction event so you havent missed anything
The thing is that I want to see all the best fighters in one place. So far the UFC has been that place. There are other places for lesser fighters (Pride, WEC, Strikeforce, etc.)
On the other hand, if it wasn’t for the affliction event we wouldn’t have another ufn. Maybe the competition is good for the sport but it’s hell on my cable bill.
Big John McCarthy hates kittens. So I am watching UFN.
I will not support an anti kitten organization
i believe there is a time when you must choose between the sport or the company dont get me wrong dana cares about the sport but the company is just a little more important
Big John is sponcered by Affliction. At least he has a signature shirt by them.
I have 4 Affliction shirts that were all $20 over-priced so that’s all of my money they are getting. I’m watching UFN live and letting someone else foot the bill for “Banned” and I’ll watch it later.
Affliction is the place to be come one look at the card spike will show the ufn fight over and over i’ll watch the free one when the time is right but come july 19th Affliction. to many ppl dont know ufc from mma.
pluss pride is where the ufc got most of there top ranked fighters from when the bought pride. so pride always had the better fighters!
Big John should be a ref and keep his mouth shut. He sounds as annoying and repetative as me only on the other side of the argument. I agree there should be other promotions but why is he so bitter at the UFC?
Did anyone watch the freaking InsideMMA where he said all of this? He is wearing a huge affliction shirt. Biased as hell shouldn’t even be taken seriously
Just through reading Big John’s opinion, I could hear his dumb, half brain voice speaking. I slept on it and woke up pissed off. John is too stupid to form an opinion of his own so I know for a fact he’s reaching into someone’s pocket and fondling funds. I cannot help but feel I just read the opinion of a person plagued with a severe mental disorder. I remember John telling the story of how he came up with, “let’s get it on.” Terrible, lacked creativity and was a bad story all together yet he was as proud as the guy who discovered DNA. I never thought I would dislike John but he’s sitting there bashing his former employer’s!?! Without the help of the UFC building up MMA, John would not have the job he has now. F JOHN! The moron sees the UFC dominating the world of MMA and just now realized he made a bad career move. Idiot! F JOHN!
im guessing your not a fan of big john KOuch haha
Actually I use to love the guy as the UFC’s ref. It seems to me he feels rather Godly with the rise of MMA but at the same time he is as dumb as a rock. There is little doubt in my mind that the top 30 visitors here are far more intelligent than Big Dumb McCarthy. He was bias and that is was pisses me off. It’s okay for us to be bias as fans but it is not okay for a former employee of the UFC to act that the way John did. Jealous,insecure, bias and ignorant. It is not our fault the dumbass made a bad career move. I wonder if Tito is sharing Jenna with John?
All you may not agree with him, but he was right on. I’d pay $80 to see the Affliction card. I almost want to see Silva lose just to show that they shouldn’t have put this up against Affliction. If anything they should’ve made it the day before or the day after. If you do that you only build mma up. To see two shows in one night for the price of one, you really can’t beat that. And 2 big shows in one weekend, you cant beat that either. All you need to do is grab some beer, invite 3 friends over, that’s $10 a head, plus an extra $5 per person for the case of beer. Then when the pay-per-view is over watch the UFC commercial free on tivo til 3 in the morning.
wow! you would pay $80 for that card? more power to you buddy. i have better things to do with $80 considering you can see that card for free online after it originally airs… i would hate for you to be my financial advisor. lol
mrnice
were can i see this card online what site?
mmatko.com
cheers bud
I understand his viewpoint but I think the Ufc show is the better decision. It is Affliction’s first show there will be problems. Most new shows have production problems. I don’t see why the fan needs to pay $40 so they can learn how to make a more entertaining show next time. Plus I bet one fight will be scrapped and at least 1 fight will not be as competitive as people believe.Save your money and buy the affliction dvd with a free t shirt at christmas.
Wow KOuch why don’t you tell us how you REALLY feel about McCarthy? However, he is NOT a disgruntled employee as he left totally on his own. You think Dana wanted John gone? Not a chance. John left because he saw the future of the sport and knew that it would be the same old same old for years to come in the UFC. He left to help a budding sport (MMA) become primetime. Sure he was shamelessly promoting a fight card that he felt (as most do) is superior…but don’t knock him for doing so. And to call him “Dumb”?? That’s just idiotic as he is THE premier ref in the sport of MMA and i’ve never seen one fight stopped by him that was “questionable.” Give the guy credit for being the best ref in the business instead of knocking him down because he’s supporting what is OBVIOUSLY the better fight card for that night.
DannyBoy,
I cannot argue against John being the best ref because he was and to me always will be. Based on John’s own words, John is still a bitter former employee. All I got from what John was saying is, “F the UFC! I work for these guys now and I will hype up and overrated Affliction card too!” I feel John made his career move to help himself not the sport. John is dumb too. Very DUMB! Have you ever heard his interviews? I still like the guy and I am sure he is a nice person but it is painfully obvious he is not the sharpest tool in the shed.
On a side note. The closer the Affliction card gets the less excited I am for it. Everyone is jumping on this bandwagon war between a free UFC show and a PPV Affliction/MegaDeth show. I’m guilty of arguing over the matter too. At this point F the Affliction card. One thing I hate with the UFC specifically is when a card with 10 fights is 7 WW fights, 1 HW fight and 2 LW fights. I like more variety and hate cards being dominated by one weight division. That is what makes Affliction so undesireable to me. A card dominated by HWs……I FEAR slow paced fights. It seems to me the majority of people who have argued on behalf of Affliction are fans unhappy with the UFC or Dana White. All money, promotions, midgets and dwarfs aside….I would rather watch Anderson Silva fight than anyone on the Affliction card.
KOUCH I AGREE WITH YOU. HE IS AN AWSOME REF NO QUESTION. BUT I AIN’T GONNA WATCH AFFLICTION WITH THE SPYDER DEBUTING.. HW JUST DON’T DO ANYTHING FOR ME.