Former MMA referee Big John McCarthy spoke out on his podcast ‘WEIGHING IN’ and shared his views on a controversy. The incident in question involves a preliminary card fight between Francisco Trinaldo and Jai Herbert that had MMA fans divided. The fight took place inside the Flash Forum on the final event on Yas Fight Island in Abu Dhabi.
The main point of contention was that Referee Herb Dean failed to stop the fight in time as Herbert was dropped. The veteran official decided to let the fight play its course since Jai Herbert was seemingly defending himself.
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Not to mention the commentator on duty that night, Dan Hardy voiced his displeasure whilst being live on the broadcast.
The incident became a huge talking point within the MMA community as opinions began to flood in. Big John is considered to be one of the most seasoned officials in the sport, and his views carry merit in these matters.
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Big John McCarthy chimes in
The seasoned veteran spoke to former fighter and co-host Josh Thomson, who shared a differing viewpoint. McCarthy touched upon former title challenger, Dan Hardy’s passionate call for action from the commentator’s booth.
“Could he [Herb Dean] have stopped it? He could have. But there would have been people complaining about him stopping it. There would have been people saying, ‘Oh, you didn’t give him an opportunity to work his way out of it’. You can’t win.
“Herb could have stopped it and the reason he didn’t because he like, ‘I’m looking at it like you’re in a position to possibly defend yourself’. You can watch and go back, see Herb utilize that same mentality.”
Being a referee himself, McCarthy has a unique perspective on the complexities that come with the job. He remained steadfast in his view that Dan Hardy weighing on the situation broke a professional code.
“For Dan to start yelling about it, it’s not your place, you’re a commentator. If you like that guy [Jai Herbert] that’s great, you can go and talk to Herb about it later. It’s not gonna do you any good.”
Amidst the contentious chain of events, the spectacular performance by Francisco Trinaldo has gone unnoticed. The lightweight is on a three-fight win streak in the promotion and will be looking to put the incident behind him.
SOURCE- WEIGHING IN- YouTube
