John McCarthy to commentate for Bellator
Legendary referee “Big” John McCarthy has agreed to join the Bellator broadcast booth as Jimmy Smith’s replacement for Bellator MMA. He will be scaling back his refereeing duties significantly, only working smaller regional shows or boxing events to avoid conflicts of interest. McCarthy has refereed mixed martial arts for over 20 years, debuting at UFC 2 back in 1994.
McCarthy has vowed to follow in the footsteps of other well-prepared commentators like Smith and Brian Stann.
Tonya Evinger injured, fight scrapped Fansided reported that former Invicta Bantamweight Champion Tonya Evinger’s return to 135 pounds has been delayed due to injury. Evinger had been slated to take on Marion Reneau at UFC: Austin in February, but as she tells it, she has suffered the most frustrating injury of her life.
I’m just not ready to talk bout it all, I’m heartbroken and have nvr had an injury this bad. It’s been an emotional wk for me and I’ve been crying over this for 4 days now so just give me a min to process everything and figure out what I’mma do.
— tonya evinger (@tonyaevinger) January 9, 2018
Khabig Nurmagomedov teases big news Could a title fight be in the works for undefeated lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov? “The Eagle” teased as much with an Instagram post early this morning stating, “Big news coming. The Eagles continues to hunt.”
A title bout against interim champion Tony Ferguson or champ Conor McGregor would be the next expected contests for the talented wrestler. Nurmagomedov recently defeated fellow top contender Edson Barboza via one-sided decision at UFC 219.
Knockout of the Week – Stipe Miocic vs Fabricio Werdum
