Referee Kevin MacDonald stepped in to stop the fight 38 seconds in to the fight between Ion Cutelaba vs Magomed Ankalaev bout at UFC Fight Night 169 at the Chartway Arena, Norfolk. But Big John McCarthy is far from impressed by the referee’s controversial decision on Saturday night.
McCarthy is one of the best referees in the sport. In an episode of the Weighing In podcast with Josh Thomson, he shared his criticisms of the referee’s performance.
“If you’re going to be a referee and your job is to be around this fighter and make sure the fighter stays around, then why are you looking and standing there like a fan, and allowing what fighter to walk?” McCarthy said.
“You know, you can start walking with him. If it stops halfway, you can stop with it without any problem. But as soon as it crosses that halfway point, your hands start to pull it away ‘hey don’t even think about it’, and you pull it back if you’re the referee. What are you doing? Are you standing there because you’re so cool?
“You have to be careful when the two fighters are in the cage, this cage is your responsibility. As soon as you enter, once you exit, you don’t have to worry about anything. But when they’re both in there, your attention is on the fighters.
“So, all of that when they get together. It could have ended horribly, it didn’t, but it happened about 38 seconds later. If you’re going to do a job, do the job. Stop trying to look cool, stop trying to be a fan, do your job.” McCarthy added.
McCarthy thinks half of the problem is the commission, which will do little to discipline the referee or prevent such finishes from happening in the future.
“You know it’s simple, and that’s what’s wrong. The commission itself, what will they do? Nothing. This inspector has to be taken and “hey, you’re going to be in the back from now on since you don’t know what to do when you’re here in the cage, under the lights in front of the cameras.” McCarthy said.
“Well, I’m going to put you in a place where you don’t have as much thinking skills as you need. It’s like that. This is how you are supposed to manage something, it’s a business.” he added.
