‘Big’ John McCarthy not actually retired, but he is done with the UFC

We have likely seen the last of 'Big' John McCarthy inside the Octagon.

Bellator announced the signing of 'Big' John McCarthy in a statement issued on Tuesday. The famed MMA referee will be joining the promotion's broadcast team and is set to make his colour commentary debut at Bellator 192. McCarthy's comments in the statement seemed to suggest retirement was on the cards. This was supported by a text from Bellator president Scott Coker to ESPN's Brett Okamoto saying he was 'retiring from officiating.' However, that is not the case. According to McCarthy, he is taking a step back to perform his new gig, but he hasn't officially retired yet. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/950859754817060866 McCarthy confirmed that he wasn't retiring during an interview with Luke Thomas on Sirius XM. He is still a licensed official and plans on working events in the near future.

"Nope, not closing any door. I have a boxing event I'm doing the day after doing a Bellator event. I do officiating that people don't even know about. So will I still be a licensed official doing combat sports? Yes."

He admitted the draw of the commentary gig came from an injury he suffered in training. Once it became apparent that getting hurt could hamper his involvement in MMA, he began exploring other ways to remain a part of the sport. Once Coker called him to see if he was interested in auditioning to be Jimmy Smith's replacement, he jumped at the opportunity.

"The truth is, I got hurt back in July 2017. I got hurt bad. During training I was grappling with some guys to the point I got held in a choke I was letting a guy do, but he wasn't doing it right. I was fine after and the next day, I was a mess. It screwed me up. It ended up crushing a couple of my discs and breaking them off. I ended up having a couple of surgeries off of it and that's why I was gone for a bit. I couldn't even move my arm."

https://twitter.com/jimmysmithmma/status/950814231376506880 McCarthy also confirmed to ESPN that he had a few MMA assignments lined up before he secured the commentary gig. He has since contacted the commissions to inform them that he can no longer do these officiating jobs. Right now, taking new MMA assignments are "a thing of the past."

"If you're asking me if I've officiated my last UFC fight, I don't think the UFC wants a Bellator commentator officiating their fights. That's totally understandable. Have I officiated my last UFC fight? As of right now, yeah."

One thing's for sure, TV gigs pay a lot more than refereeing jobs. Here's hoping the MMA refereeing pioneer is getting suitably compensated for his new role. He's earned it.