MMA’s most iconic official has weighed in on Saturday night’s most controversial outcome.
While some fighters were met with criticism ahead of UFC Perth due to several fight cancellations, the event itself was fairly straightforward.
However, there was one confusing moment during a welterweight matchup that took place on the main card.
Neil Magny pulled off a remarkable comeback win over Jake Matthews to continue defying the odds at 38 years old.
The veteran’s late rally was certainly impressive, but there’s an argument to be made that he never should have had this opportunity in the first place.
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‘Big’ John McCarthy questions whether referee’s mistake had a negative impact on Jake Matthews
In the closing moments of the first round, it appeared that the referee had waved off the fight between Neil Magny and Jake Matthews.
He seemingly believed that Magny had been choked unconscious, but when he separated the two men and it was clear that the fighter was still responsive, the fight continued.
Whether he’s criticizing officials for not doing their jobs properly or praising them, ‘Big’ John McCarthy is the sport’s foremost authority on rules and referees.
McCarthy said on a recent episode of the Weighing In podcast that he agrees with the decision that the official made to let the fight continue.
He also stated that as a result of the initial mistake, this decision could have had a negative impact on Matthews.
“The real problem with it is, when you do it, it can absolutely take someone like a Jake Matthews and it takes them from having this all of a sudden super high adrenaline and it dumps them because he feels like, ‘You just pulled me off, I just got a win, and now no I don’t have a win.’ That can be a mental breakdown and it’s really not Jake’s fault, so that’s tough.”
As McCarthy pointed out, Matthews continued to get the better of the matchup after this moment before being submitted in the third round.
“I feel bad for Jake Matthews, though,” McCarthy reflected. “I don’t know if he lost a little bit of concentration in that third round. I don’t know what it was because he was up two rounds.”
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Jake Matthews referenced this exact point in his post-fight statement
Jake Matthews reflected on the controversial moment during his post-fight statement on social media.
The welterweight fighter made a similar point to John McCarthy, suggesting that he was impacted by the mistake that the referee made.
He also stated that this is already being looked at by the local commission, which could lead to the result being overturned.
UFC executive Dave Shaw said in his post-fight press conference that he believed a mistake was made but it would be down to the commission to follow up on this.
