Vintage UFC fans will recall that iconic fighter Tank Abbott and former referee John McCarthy didn’t see eye to eye. Well, as it turns out 28 years after the infamous altercation between Abbott and McCarthy’s wife, the bad blood still exists. McCarthy was at the receiving end of scathing criticism by Abbott in the recent JRE episode and the former LAPD police officer has now responded.

While speaking to Joe Rogan the former fighter made serious allegations against McCarthy, on the JRE episode, which aired on 6 June. Abbott went to the extent of saying “he’s corrupt and he’s a crook”, which shocked Rogan. The host defended the former referee and said, “I mean, I think you have like a personal dispute with him but I like Big John”. However, ‘Tank’ didn’t mellow down and blamed McCarthy and his wife for throwing him out of the UFC.

Abbott’s serious allegations caught the attention of McCarthy and responded to a user on X. One of the users asked him, “Didnt know u were corrupt John McCartney n ur wife Karen the truth will set u free”. The former referee responded, “Yeah I didn’t know that either…….”. 

The entire controversy stirred up after Rogan and Abbott analyzed an old fight video of the “Tank” on the podcast. Abbott then shared his grievance with the JRE host about how McCarthy cost him his fight. According to the 59-year-old, the former referee never liked his style of fighting and often favored his opponents. However, the differences between Abbott and McCarthy go beyond the octagon.

At UFC 8, in 1996, Tank Abbott and his wife got into a verbal altercation with McCarthy’s wife Elaine. This happened after Abbott almost came to blows with Brazilian fighter Allan Goes while in the crowd. However, later Abbott threatened Elaine and allegedly told her, “I’ll fu**ing kill, you.”

It was reported that Abbott issued an official letter of apology later. However, it was revealed that then-UFC commissioner Art Davie drafted the letter for him, as he was not keen on the written apology.

Abbott’s relationship with McCarthy was fractured from the start. The reason behind this according to Abbott was his past as a street fighter and McCarthy being a police officer.

“He’s a cop,” Abbott on why McCarthy wanted him out of UFC

During his conversation with Abbott, Rogan asked him why he believes UFC and McCarthy wanted him out of the roster. He replied, “Because, he does not like me. He’s a cop, and he doesn’t like the fact, that I’m a, probably in his eyes, a thug. But the point is, he has a…but in his mind, he’s never liked me.”

Abbott was popular as a street fighter before he began his UFC stint. McCarthy, who was an officer of the Los Angeles Police Department, during the time, didn’t take it well. Abbott also talked about being involved in a street brawl with some members of a jiu-jitsu gym. This incident allegedly led to McCarthy and his wife threatening Bob Meyrowitz, the UFC owner at the time, that they would both quit if the promotion didn’t remove Abbott from its roster.

Abbott eventually left UFC in 1998 and had a stint in pro wrestling with WCW that lasted a year. He returned to the octagon in 20o3 and later fought Wesley Correira at UFC 45, but ended up losing. But that proved to another controversial outing for the Tank, as he and his corner got into a brawl with Wesley Correira’s team after being angered by Correira’s taunting when being declared the winner.

Abbott was the released by the UFC afterwards.

What do you feel about Tank Abbott and his claims on Big John McCarthy? Let us know in the comments below.