UFC legend Tank Abbott’s recent appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience sent shockwaves through the MMA community. Abbott dropped a bombshell, revealing a strained relationship with veteran referee Big John McCarthy. He even claimed that McCarthy and his wife were the reason behind his departure from the UFC. This revelation caught both Joe Rogan and the audience completely off guard.

Now, following the podcast reaching Big John McCarthy, he, along with co-host and former champion Josh “The Punk” Thomson, addressed Abbott’s claim on their YouTube channel. They offered their perspective and attempted to counter Tank Abbott’s statements.

UFC co-creator exposes Tank Abbott

The MMA referee world has been buzzing in recent weeks due to the tense situation between former fighter Tank Abbott and veteran referee Big John McCarthy. Both men have been publicly criticizing each other, with accusations flying back and forth. This feud has taken a new turn. McCarthy, on his YouTube channel “Weighing In” alongside co-host Josh Thomson, is trying to build a case against Abbott. To strengthen their claims, they’re using a tweet from last week by Campbell McLaren, another co-creator of the UFC.

In a video uploaded by the “Weighing In” channel, Josh Thomson, alongside veteran referee John McCarthy, discussed a tweet from Campbell McLaren. The tweet read, “Tank Abbot forgot to mention on @joeroganhq he threatened @JohnMcCarthyMMA wife. Tank forgot to mention quite a few nasty things he did. Like the Pat Smith elevator incident. I was the exec Producer of the UFC then. The tank was hugely popular. But he was a sociopath.”

Taking things a step further, Josh Thomson recounted another incident on his YouTube channel, of course not before citing alcoholism as the reason behind a lot of what Abbott had to say. He claimed he was having lunch in Huntington Beach with Rob McCullough when Tito Ortiz joined them. Inside the bar, they saw Tank Abbott sitting alone, still drinking, at 11:00 am, which McCarthy further agreed to and even identified Abbott’s choice of drink as ‘Stoly with ice.’

And Big John certainly did not hold back on the same. “He [Tank Abbott] has just come up with some things in his mind. What really is amazing to me…He always believes that I hated him. I never hated Tank, that was not the case…It’s one of the craziest things because it’s like, it’s obvious I live rent free in Tank Abbott’s head,” said McCarthy. He then also shared an incident that involved his wife Elaine, who was also employed by the UFC at that time. If McCarthy is to be believed, then Abbott had threatened her, after being fueled by his girlfriend, under the influence of alcohol.

This directly contradicts Tank Abbott’s claims that Big John McCarthy dislikes him because of his street fighting background, even calling him ‘corrupt’ and ‘a crook’ or that the ex-police officer had just ‘kicked him out,’ as he mentioned in The Joe Rogan Experience.

Abbott reveals conspiracy against him to Joe Rogan

Big John McCarthy, a widely respected MMA referee known for his work in the UFC and even earning the respect of UFC commentator and comedian Joe Rogan, finds himself at odds with legendary UFC heavyweight Tank Abbott. Both men have been involved with the UFC since its early days, but tensions flared recently when Abbott appeared on Joe Rogan Experience and claimed McCarthy is the reason he’s no longer in the UFC.

Joe Rogan, clearly surprised by this claim, pressed Abbott for more details. Abbott explained that he’d gotten into legal trouble for street fighting in the past, and McCarthy was a police officer with the LAPD at the time. He went on to say, “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.”

With conflicting narratives emerging from both Tank Abbott and Big John McCarthy, it’s difficult to determine who’s entirely truthful. Only someone with firsthand knowledge of the situation within the early UFC can definitively say who’s more accurate. Until then, we’ll have to wait for further developments in this ongoing feud.