Return Of A Legend- Big John McCarthy Returns As Referee
Big John McCarthy has announced his return as an MMA referee. He originally retired from officiating in 2018 when he became a commentator for Bellator. At the time, Big John explained that his decision to step away was due to accumulated injuries, which caused pain that could have prevented him from physically stopping a fight or lifting one fighter off another.
Now, after recovering from surgeries and taking time off, he feels ready to return to the sport he loves. Few individuals have had a greater impact on MMA. He literally helped write the first official rules of the sport and even coined the term “Mixed Martial Arts” while completing sanctioning paperwork for the early UFC events.
Big John McCarthy’s legacy is undeniable, and he deserves to be the first referee inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
“I have a hard time being away from it” – Big John
On the most recent episode of his Weighing In podcast with former MMA champion Josh Thomson, Big John McCarthy announced his return to the cage. Telling Thomson, “I’m going back to officiating some. I’m going to be doing all kinds of different things. I’ll be doing MMA and Bare Knuckle, boxing. I’m going to be all over the place doing stuff. I get to work with people that I really have a high respect for.”
He continued about ending his time on the long-running podcast, “I can’t do that and this (the podcast), so I had to make a decision.” After a brief pause, trying to find the words to articulate his reasoning, Big John simply stated, “I have a hard time being away from it. It’s one of the passions of my life. I could be making a huge mistake, but I don’t think so. I have a small show that I’ll be doing on Saturday.”
Big John said goodbye to fans of the show: “I will be leaving, but I want everyone to know, thank you so much for tuning in to us, for listening. I hope we were able to educate you or benefit you with our podcast. Josh is going to continue on.”
Josh Thomson reassured fans that he will still call Big John during moments of referee controversy to get his valuable opinion.
Now that Big John McCarthy is returning to MMA, the question remains: could we see him officiate at the historic UFC White House card?
