UFC icon ‘Big’ John McCarthy commits to referee return after officiating his first fight in 7 years

‘Big’ John McCarthy leaving his podcast in order to return to being a referee

‘Big’ John McCarthy has been the third man inside the Octagon for some of the biggest and most iconic fights in the history of the promotion.

This came to an end in 2018, when he announced that he would be retiring from his work as an official in order to pursue other career paths, along with other physical concerns impacting his switch.

McCarthy went on to work for Bellator as a commentator before making the switch over to the PFL, where he worked as an analyst after the promotion acquired Bellator in 2023.

The former official made a return to his previous career this past weekend, having taken a lot of positives from this experience.

A post on social media claimed that McCarthy would be stepping away from his role as the co-host of the Weighing In podcast in order to return to officiating, which was then confirmed by the podcast.

After Weighing In reposted the statement, McCarthy’s podcast co-host, Josh Thomson, wished him well.

McCarthy and Dana White have had their disagreements over the years, but fans are still hoping that this news means we might see the iconic official back inside the Octagon one day.

Usman Nurmagomedov vs Paul Hughes saw refereeing controversy just last week

Having John McCarthy back involved in the sport means that there will be another experienced official to ensure that fights run smoothly.

While officiating becomes a controversial talking point fairly regularly in combat sports, this was especially true last week.

Usman Nurmagomedov’s controversial win over Paul Hughes led to fans and media members (as seen below) heavily criticizing Keith Peterson after he didn’t penalize multiple fouls.

McCarthy, who literally helped to write the rule book for MMA, will hopefully be able to pick back up from where he left off in 2018.