Conor McGregor will be hoping his next outing is as fruitful as the last time ‘Big’ John McCarthy officiated one of his fights.
McCarthy has been named as the third man in the Octagon for the hotly anticipated rematch between ‘The Notorious’ and Nate Diaz in the main event of UFC 202.
The most recent, and only, time that McCarthy has taken charge of a McGregor bout coincided with the Irishman’s famous 13-second knockout of Jose Aldo at UFC 194, when McGregor unified the featherweight title.
Herb Dean was in the middle the last time McGregor met Diaz and he’s refereed the majority of McGregor’s UFC tilts – five of eight.
For as long as both men have been in the UFC, it’s surprising that ‘Big’ John has only overseen one of Nate Diaz’s bouts which was his welterweight defeat to Rory MacDonald in 2011.
McCarthy will take home $1,900 for the evening, according to MMAJunkie.com and, unlike Jon Jones’ expression of concern about the initial appointment of McCarthy as referee for his scheduled grudge match with Daniel Cormier at UFC 200, neither McGregor nor Diaz registered an objection to his appointment.
The judges have also been announced by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and scoring the fight will be Derek Cleary, Jeff Mullen and Glenn Trowbridge.
Officials for Nate Diaz vs. Conor McGregor: John McCarthy will referee. Judges: Derek Cleary, Jeff Mullen, Glenn Trowbridge.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) July 18, 2016
None of those three names were involved the only time McGregor required the judges’ scorecards in the UFC while all three have experience in decisions involving Diaz, according to MMADecisions.com.
MMAJunkie.com also report that the judges will earn $1,600 each for the event on August 20.
Listen to our new GAA podcast with Colm Parkinson. Click here to subscribe on iTunes.
https://soundcloud.com/user-787320910/the-gaa-hour-with-colm-parkinson-tyrone-and-galway-are-back-but-these-dubs-are-not-going-away