UFC 235: Big John McCarthy weighs in as controversies mar PPV

Retired MMA referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy has weighed in a couple of controversial decisions that punctuated last night’s UFC 235.

The T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada bore witness to a pay-per-view to remember. The main event saw Jon Jones defeat Anthony Smith for the lightweight title, while Kamaru Usman shocked Tyron Woodley for the welterweight championship, and Ben Askren earned a debut win over Robbie Lawler.

However, the card wasn’t without its controversies, with a number of refereeing decisions coming under the spotlight on the night.

Experienced official Herb Dean made the first questionable call of the night when former ONE FC 185lb champion Askren took on Lawler at welterweight in his first promotional outing. Askren, a heavy favourite going in, was almost shocked early, with Lawler landing a huge suplex and following it up with devastating ground-and-pound strikes that bloodied the brash 34-year-old and nearly put him out.

Lawler’s ‘thumbs up’ missed by Herb Dean

Askren was able to fight his way back into the contest, eventually securing a rare bulldog choke late in the first round. Despite Lawler initially appearing to go limp for a fraction of a second, he seemingly signalled to Dean with a thumbs up when the referee checked on his status. However, Dean, believing Lawler to be out cold, waved off the fight, prompting an immediate protest from the 36-year-old and most of those in attendance.

Long-time UFC official and current Bellator MMA announcer McCarthy today responded to queries on social media over the stoppage. The former Los Angeles police officer admitted that his former colleague made the wrong call on the night, attributing it to everyone “[being] human, and we all make mistakes”.

Obviously not. We are all human and we all make mistakes https://t.co/aiXEFQ862l

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) March 3, 2019

Goddard too quick to break up the action?

Meanwhile, UFC 235’s co-main and main events were not free from controversy, either. In the penultimate clash of the evening, which saw Nigerian-born Kamaru Usman dominate welterweight champion Tyron Woodley in the latter’s fifth defence of the title, British referee Marc Goddard repeatedly broke up the action.

With two high-level wrestlers in action, it was almost inevitable that a certain level of grappling would occur. However, Goddard appeared to force a break in the action too quickly at points, all whilst Usman was putting on a wrestling clinic and repeatedly asserting dominance on top. At one point, the experienced Brit admonished Usman for inactivity, somewhat petulantly reminding the 31-year-old that he was “in a fight” – prompting ire from fans on social media.

Marc Goddard: “Listen to me Kamaru, it’s a fight.”

What the fuck? Usman has been trying to advance and do damage the whole time. The officiating on this card is TERRIBLE. #UFC235

— David Bixenspan (@davidbix) March 3, 2019

Goddard’s repeated assertions that the pair engage eventually led to Usman standing in the pocket and trading leather with Woodley, which could well have thrown his pitch-perfect gameplan out the window. As it turned out, however, the African was able to weather the storm and eventually reestablish his will en route to a wide unanimous decision and the world title.

Jones on the verge of throwing away title

Finally, in the evening’s main event, Jon Jones came precariously close to losing his light heavyweight championship despite dominating and beating up challenger Anthony Smith over five rounds. In the fourth, “Bones” landed an illegal knee to the head of his opponent, who had one palm on the ground. The shot dazed “Lionheart”, and prompted Herb Dean to call a break in the action.

Following a brief pause, Dean asked ringside officials to check instant replays of the incident before eventually docking Jones two points for an intentional foul after Smith bravely said he could continue (if he had withdrawn, he would’ve been awarded the title by virtue of disqualification). These actions caused a number of fans to question whether the referee had again made a dubious call, as in many states, the rules dictate that the instant replay can only be called upon once a contest has been declared over.

As it turns, out, however, Dean was absolutely in the right on that occasion, with McCarthy explaining the rationale behind the decision to check the tape, as well as the points deduction, on Twitter.

In any place other than Nevada you are correct, but Nevada has put instant replay into their rules saying you can use it at anytime. https://t.co/bV7NfzsLxY

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) March 3, 2019

There was a 2 point deduction based upon the foul being intentional & in @HerbDeanMMA opinion there was damage inflicted by the knee. Under the Unified Rules of MMA if you have an intentional foul with damage you MUST take at a minimum 2 points https://t.co/JTCGYHSR7O

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) March 3, 2019

It’s always unfortunate when the calls of officials overshadow the fights they are refereeing, but either way, UFC 235 did not disappoint from an entertainment perspective, both in terms of fight quality and in-ring controversy.