‘Not That Good’- Dana White- Led UFC’s Roster Hit With a Reality Check as MMA Veteran Doesn’t Call Them ‘Best in the World’ in Comparison to PFL and Other Promotions

The UFC is to MMA what the NBA is to basketball or the NFL is to football. The two respective set of terms are almost interchangeable and are what comes to mind when people think of the sports. While the dominance of UFC is not quite as absolute as the NFL or NBA, the promotion does generate over 70% of the revenue in MMA.

UFC commentator Joe Rogan recently made this very comparison between the UFC and NFL. The JRE podcast host recently stated that talented fighters in rival promotions were essentially wasting their time and should join the UFC if they want to be known in the combat sports world. This prompted veteran MMA referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy to point out one major misconception about the UFC.

McCarthy unimpressed with Dana White-led UFC’s roster

McCarthy stated that there is a common misconception that the UFC’s roster is filled with good fighters. “So by saying I fight for the UFC that automatically establishes to anybody out there that’s a casual ‘oh you’re actually good. Now that’s not quite true,'” the referee said.

John McCarthy felt that not all fighters in the UFC’s 600-fighter roster were average fighters, who did not have the skill-sets and ability to become champions or who could not be defeated by fighters from a smaller promotion like the PFL or Bellator.

“With the number of people that the UFC have, you know, they’ve got a lot of people on there that, they’re okay. But they’re not the best in the world, they’re definitely not someone that is going to be a world champion. They’re definitely not someone that someone from another organization cannot go and beat handily,” he told co-host Josh Thompson on their ‘Weighing In’ podcast on YouTube.

However, where the UFC did leave its competitors in the dust were the top-ranked fighters.“But the top people they have are [actually] that good,” he added. The commentator felt Rogan, being a UFC employee, had said this as it was good for the promotion. But he did agree with Rogan’s football analogy.

McCarthy thinks it is appropriate to equate UFC with the NFL

McCarthy, however, did acknowledge that equating the UFC with the NFL was an appropriate analogy. Although the referee felt that the UFC’s marketing machinery had manufactured this impression as essentially there was no difference between the PFL and the UFC, both being MMA promotion companies. However, he added that the UFC had reached that level.

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“What’s the difference between those [the PFL and the UFC]? There’s no difference; they’re just two different promotions. But people, because the UFC’s marketing has done so, automatically equate the UFC in the world of MMA with the NFL and they should. It has reached that [level],” he added.

What do you think about McCarthy’s comments about the UFC roster? Let us know in the comments section below.

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