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10th January 2018
09:42am GMT

"Nope, not closing any door. I have a boxing event I'm doing the day after doing a Bellator event. I do officiating that people don't even know about. So will I still be a licensed official doing combat sports? Yes."He admitted the draw of the commentary gig came from an injury he suffered in training. Once it became apparent that getting hurt could hamper his involvement in MMA, he began exploring other ways to remain a part of the sport. Once Coker called him to see if he was interested in auditioning to be Jimmy Smith's replacement, he jumped at the opportunity.
"The truth is, I got hurt back in July 2017. I got hurt bad. During training I was grappling with some guys to the point I got held in a choke I was letting a guy do, but he wasn't doing it right. I was fine after and the next day, I was a mess. It screwed me up. It ended up crushing a couple of my discs and breaking them off. I ended up having a couple of surgeries off of it and that's why I was gone for a bit. I couldn't even move my arm."https://twitter.com/jimmysmithmma/status/950814231376506880 McCarthy also confirmed to ESPN that he had a few MMA assignments lined up before he secured the commentary gig. He has since contacted the commissions to inform them that he can no longer do these officiating jobs. Right now, taking new MMA assignments are "a thing of the past."
"If you're asking me if I've officiated my last UFC fight, I don't think the UFC wants a Bellator commentator officiating their fights. That's totally understandable. Have I officiated my last UFC fight? As of right now, yeah."One thing's for sure, TV gigs pay a lot more than refereeing jobs. Here's hoping the MMA refereeing pioneer is getting suitably compensated for his new role. He's earned it.
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