Big John McCarthy: Post-Fight Brawl a 'Speed Bump'
Lutfi Sariahmed Apr 21, 2010
Of all the bouts emanating from Strikeforce “Nashville” last
weekend, it's the one non-sanctioned fight caught live on national
television that's been the talk of the MMA community. Referee “Big”
John McCarthy was in the thick of the melee between Jason “Mayhem”
Miller and Team Cesar
Gracie and gave his perspective in its aftermath on the
Sherdog Radio Network's “It’s Time” show with host Bruce Buffer
on Tuesday.
McCarthy, a 16-year veteran referee, is no stranger to impromptu breakouts between adrenaline-fueled fighters. Most notably, he was one of the officials who diffused a post-fight riot that broke out in the Octagon between the camps of David “Tank” Abbott and Wesley “Cabbage” Correira, which marred the UFC’s 10th anniversary show at UFC 45 in 2003.
“Jason did not go in there to look to start a riot,” McCarthy said
of Saturday’s brawl. “That's not what his intent was. Jason went in
there (and) it probably wasn't the right time. If you watch Gil
Melendez, he kind of moves over towards him and kind of pushes him
away from Jake (Shields) and Jake kind of puts his hand out toward
Jason, not in a nice way, and it just escalated. Testosterone with
guys and guys being the way they are, it just escalated and the
Diaz brothers went after him. Everyone was just trying to keep
their guy from getting in a bad situation and as more people
entered it just became worse and worse.”
Though McCarthy thought the episode was unfortunate, he said occurrences like this happen in all sports.
Laying blame for the brawl has been a hot topic. Besides the fighters involved, Strikeforce has been criticized for allowing so many cornermen into the cage following Shields’ victory over Dan Henderson. According to McCarthy, there was a Strikeforce employee who unknowingly let Miller, who’d fought earlier in the evening, enter the cage unaware of what was about to unfold in front of the live cameras.
“It's hard to put blame on that guy because he doesn't know what's going to happen in the future,” said McCarthy, “and all that he knows is he sees Jason Miller, who he knows is he a fighter, and he doesn't know that Jason Miller is trying to get into the ring. So, it's not like someone that's just a fan, that he'd normally tell, ‘No, you can't go in.’ He's looking at him like he's someone who belongs in here. So he let’s him in and then that happens. Twenty-twenty hindsight is great in saying he shouldn't have been let in, but you're putting a lot on that guy to predict the future of what was going to happen. You can't do that.”
McCarthy said that the Tennessee State Athletic Commission, which oversaw the event, will review footage of the incident before doling out any potential fines or suspensions to the fighters involved. Miller, Shields, Melendez and Nick and Nate Diaz were all licensed by the commission that evening in various capacities and could face sanctions that could have far-reaching effects.
“They have the ability to suspend people, to revoke a license as a fighter, a license as a trainer, whatever the person was in there for, they can do all those things,” said McCarthy. “Because of the way the (athletic) commissions work throughout North America, that suspension is upheld with every state and every province that there is going into Canada. So, if it happened in Tennessee and Tennessee comes down with a suspension and that trainer tries to go to, let’s say, California, (that commission) is going to take a look at that suspension and uphold it and not license that trainer or that fighter.”
In the meantime, video of the brawl has made the rounds on YouTube and gotten its fair amount of play on the website Deadspin, some sports talk radio shows and even ESPN's “Around The Horn.” But the immediate backlash isn't what worries McCarthy the most.
“It's a speed bump,” said McCarthy. “It’s not going to be the end of MMA. Fights happen. Fights happen in baseball. Are they supposed to? No. But they do because there's emotion involved. When there's emotion sometimes they lose control and common sense goes out the window and things happen. The real question: is CBS going to be so upset by this that they're not going to take MMA and continue to put MMA on national TV like it should be?”
McCarthy, a 16-year veteran referee, is no stranger to impromptu breakouts between adrenaline-fueled fighters. Most notably, he was one of the officials who diffused a post-fight riot that broke out in the Octagon between the camps of David “Tank” Abbott and Wesley “Cabbage” Correira, which marred the UFC’s 10th anniversary show at UFC 45 in 2003.
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Though McCarthy thought the episode was unfortunate, he said occurrences like this happen in all sports.
“We got it to the point where finally we got it under control, but
it doesn't look good,” said McCarthy. “But it's happened in boxing,
it's happened in baseball, it’s happened in basketball, its’
happened in football. It's happened in the UFC before. Those things
happen. It's not the promotion's fault. When you get energized
guys, it happens.”
Laying blame for the brawl has been a hot topic. Besides the fighters involved, Strikeforce has been criticized for allowing so many cornermen into the cage following Shields’ victory over Dan Henderson. According to McCarthy, there was a Strikeforce employee who unknowingly let Miller, who’d fought earlier in the evening, enter the cage unaware of what was about to unfold in front of the live cameras.
“It's hard to put blame on that guy because he doesn't know what's going to happen in the future,” said McCarthy, “and all that he knows is he sees Jason Miller, who he knows is he a fighter, and he doesn't know that Jason Miller is trying to get into the ring. So, it's not like someone that's just a fan, that he'd normally tell, ‘No, you can't go in.’ He's looking at him like he's someone who belongs in here. So he let’s him in and then that happens. Twenty-twenty hindsight is great in saying he shouldn't have been let in, but you're putting a lot on that guy to predict the future of what was going to happen. You can't do that.”
McCarthy said that the Tennessee State Athletic Commission, which oversaw the event, will review footage of the incident before doling out any potential fines or suspensions to the fighters involved. Miller, Shields, Melendez and Nick and Nate Diaz were all licensed by the commission that evening in various capacities and could face sanctions that could have far-reaching effects.
“They have the ability to suspend people, to revoke a license as a fighter, a license as a trainer, whatever the person was in there for, they can do all those things,” said McCarthy. “Because of the way the (athletic) commissions work throughout North America, that suspension is upheld with every state and every province that there is going into Canada. So, if it happened in Tennessee and Tennessee comes down with a suspension and that trainer tries to go to, let’s say, California, (that commission) is going to take a look at that suspension and uphold it and not license that trainer or that fighter.”
In the meantime, video of the brawl has made the rounds on YouTube and gotten its fair amount of play on the website Deadspin, some sports talk radio shows and even ESPN's “Around The Horn.” But the immediate backlash isn't what worries McCarthy the most.
“It's a speed bump,” said McCarthy. “It’s not going to be the end of MMA. Fights happen. Fights happen in baseball. Are they supposed to? No. But they do because there's emotion involved. When there's emotion sometimes they lose control and common sense goes out the window and things happen. The real question: is CBS going to be so upset by this that they're not going to take MMA and continue to put MMA on national TV like it should be?”
