"Big" John McCarthy is leaving The Fight Network effective immediately. John is an iconic referee who officiated since UFC 1 and then suddenly resigned to pursue a career in the MMA media as analyst at The Fight Network. His departure from The Fight Network marks yet another notable defection with both JT McCarthy and Loretta Hunt having left the network earlier.

In his farewell post, John McCarthy gives us a hint that he might return to officiating.

“A few people have said that I have attacked the UFC. That is simply not true. I have never said anything bad about the UFC. I spent 14 years of my life trying to build up the UFC and make people understand how incredible the fighters of MMA were. I considered myself very lucky in the fact that I was able to be around the UFC for as long as I was, and you never know maybe I will go back to refereeing and someday work another UFC.”