John McCarthy Claims Lorenzo Fertitta Was The Brains Behind The UFC

Former referee turned color commentator John McCarthy started officiating bouts at UFC 2 and continued on until pursuing other opportunities earlier this year.

McCarthy has spent a lot of time with the UFC during his career, which is why the former referee believes that former promotion owner Lorenzo Fertitta was the brains behind the operation.

“The greatest thing that the UFC had was Lorenzo Fertitta,” McCarthy said on The Joe Rogan Experience MMA Show. “I’m just being honest. Dana White was fantastic for the UFC as far as his work effort and the amount of work he put into it and non-stop just going after deals, trying to make things happen. He was the workhorse for it, but Lorenzo is the brains behind it. And the loss of him is great. You’ve already seen things.”

The Fertitta Brothers sold the UFC a few years back to WME-IMG, but Dana White remains a part of the promotion as the UFC President.

If there is one problem that McCarthy can pinpoint right now for the UFC, it would be that the promotion holds too many events at the moment.

“(Having too many events) is part of the problem,” McCarthy said. “For a while there, they were almost competing against themselves with pay-per-views. You had two pay-per-views in a month, and you went and said ‘I’ll buy that one, I’m not gonna buy that one.’ You can’t be in business against yourself.”

Bellator fans will get to hear McCarthy call the action again at Bellator 200, which is headlined by UFC veterans Roy Nelson and Mirko Cro Cop.