Ex-referee John McCarthy has begrudgingly given Steven Seagal credit for predicting one of the UFC’s most famous knockouts
The actor and 7th-dan black belt in Aikido tried to take credit when Anderson Silva knocked out Vitor Belfort with a front kick to the face at UFC 126 in February 2013.
Two months later, Lyoto Machida fought Randy Couture at UFC 129 in April 2011.
Amazingly, Machida used the same kick as Silva to KO Couture after Seagal made a bold pre-fight prediction during a backstage chat with McCarthy.
John McCarthy recalls Steven Seagal’s prediction
‘Big’ John McCarthy recently appeared on the JAXXON podcast alongside ex-UFC star Josh Thomson.
During the show, McCarthy, who retired in 2018, recalled his conversation with Steven Seagal at UFC 129.
The legendary referee was due to call Jose Aldo‘s UFC debut against featherweight contender Mark Hominick.
McCarthy headed backstage to have a pre-fight conversation with Aldo but found himself interacting with Seagal, who warned him that Machida was about to score one of the greatest knockouts in UFC history.
“In the back, Lyoto is warming up and Steven Seagal is there,” the 62-year-old recalled.
“And he comes up, says, ‘John, Lyoto-san is gonna do the same thing. Did you see Anderson against Vitor Belfort?’ I said, ‘Yes, Steven, I saw’. He says, ‘Lyoto is gonna do the same thing to Randy Couture today’.
“I said, ‘Well, that was a nice kick Anderson landed, but it’s not an easy thing to pull off. Best of luck to him.’ And I’m thinking to myself, ‘Bullsh*t!’
“All of a sudden, Lyoto pulls off that kick and Steven Seagal’s all over me, ‘I told you! I told you!’
“I went to Randy Couture afterward and I said, ‘You son of a b****’. And he goes, ‘What?’ And I said, ‘Do you realize that for the rest of my life, I’ve gotta say Steven Seagal called that fight before it ever happened?’
“I had to [tell him], man. And he goes, ‘Oh, s***!'”
John McCarthy open to new UFC role
If you look at network broadcasts from around the sporting world, most shows include an in-house expert to offer viewers a quick but accurate explanation of the rules and regulations.
Whether that’s an explanation when there’s a foul, or clarification when things get controversial or confusing, there’s typically always someone on hand to break it all down.
For the UFC, coach Din Thomas often plays that role – but there’s an argument that the biggest MMA promotion in the world should go with an actual referee instead.
Now that his contract with the PFL is coming to an end, McCarthy is open to filling that spot for the UFC.
“Oh, absolutely [I would do it],” McCarthy said during an interview with MMA Junkie: “I don’t know if the UFC would want me, but yeah, I could do it with the UFC.
“And I’m being honest, I think it’s something the UFC needs. They have too many times that their commentators are unsure about what is going on or what should be done, and that’s not their fault.
“Their commentators are there to explain the ins and outs of fighting to the fans. To sit there and expect them to know all the rules and what the mechanics of the referee is and what they need – they can’t do that.
“I’m not saying it’s me, but they need somebody there to absolutely clear things up for the fans when they are in a situation when the time has been stopped, a foul has occurred, or something like that, and gives the correct information about what’s occurring and where they can go with what has happened.”