The UFC’s biggest selling point has always been that you get to see the best fight the best.
Legendary MMA referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy has been the third man in the Octagon for some of the most iconic back-and-forth clashes in the history of the sport.
However, sometimes, it is immediately clear before a fight gets underway that we’re likely heading towards one-way traffic inside the Octagon.
This was the case heading into Yair Rodriguez’s first main event spotlight following his breakout win streak in the featherweight division.
After stringing wins together over the likes of Dan Hooker and Alex Caceres, Rodriguez was booked against a former champion in what was a total mismatch.
‘Big’ John McCarthy wasn’t happy with the UFC booking Yair Rodriguez vs BJ Penn in 2017
During a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast, ‘Big’ John McCarthy said that while he’s never lost his love for the sport, there are still times when he’s not happy with it.
McCarthy used one fight in particular, which he was booked to officiate, to point out one of the aspects of MMA that he dislikes the most.
On January 15 of 2017, the surging Yair Rodriguez was booked to face a 38-year-old BJ Penn who hadn’t won a fight in seven years.
McCarthy recalled thinking, “I do not want that fight,” and his worries were proven to be justified after Penn was stopped in the second round.
It’s not uncommon for the promotion to book a rising star against a veteran who is towards the end of his career but on this occasion, McCarthy wanted answers.
The veteran referee even questioned the UFC matchmakers on their decision to book this matchup with them explaining to him why they would put a veteran like Penn in this spot.
“I was talking with Sean Selby and Joe [Silva] and I said, ‘Why? Why are you doing this? You know what’s going to happen here’. And they go, ‘Yeah, we do. But John, what do you want me to do? I’ve got BJ who makes a lot of money per fight… If I give him somebody that he can beat, he’s going to want to fight again. So, I’ve got to use his name to try to push my young fighter.’ That’s why Yair got this fight.”
John McCarthy even had his doubts when speaking to BJ Penn backstage
‘Big’ John McCarthy explained that he even had his doubts when he went backstage to speak to both fighters before the main event.
After heading into BJ Penn’s locker room to speak about the rules, as he would do with any fighter, the two veterans had a quick catch-up.
McCarthy remembers that Penn told him to not stop the fight in order to give him a chance to recover if he gets hurt but the official had his doubts.
“I’m thinking to myself, I’m gonna be stopping your fight, and it’s just one of those. I hated those moments, couldn’t stand them.”
Penn would go on to fight three more times in the Octagon, ending his UFC career with a streak of seven consecutive losses.