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Veteran MMA referee John McCarthy was surprised by former UFC world champions Daniel Cormier and Dominick Cruz's confusion regarding verbal taps. For context, Cormier and Cruz were on commentary duties at the recent UFC 305 pay-per-view, where referee Steve Perceval granted Valter Walker a submission win over Junior Tafa following a verbal tap.
The referee stopped the fight when Tafa yelped in pain after getting caught in a heel hook submission. Unclear as to what happened, 'DC' and Cruz expressed their confusion surrounding the stoppage during the broadcast.
Check out the controversial tap 'Big' John McCarthy is referring to below:
Tafa also went berserk after the stoppage and even resorted to slapping his opponent.
McCarthy for one is convinced that it is bizarre that the former champions didn't know what constitutes a verbal tap. During a recent episode of the WEIGHING IN podcast, the 61-year-old told co-host Josh Thompon:
"When you start to scream out in pain, Josh we said it, how many times, on this show? If you as the fighter... scream out in pain because you can't take what's occurring, I'm going to stop the fight, it's a verbal tap, you lose. I say it in the back [stage] all the time."
McCarthy added:
"The best was like 'DC' and Dom [Dominick Cruz] was like, 'Well, I don't know.' I'm like Jesus, how do you not know?... I've told Dom that same line myself, I've told Dan that same line."
Catch 'Big' John McCarthy's comments below (45:40):
'Big' John McCarthy doubtful of Israel Adesanya's chin
While Israel Adesanya is still a slick striker, Joh McCarthy believes the damage he has taken in his recent fights will make the former middleweight champion vulnerable in the years to come.
'The Last Sylebender' has taken a sizable amount of damage in his recent fights. He was finished by Alex Pereira at UFC 281, dropped by Sean Strickland in the first round at UFC 293, and wobbled by Dricus du Plessis more than once before getting submitted at UFC 305.
Watch Sean Strickland drop Israel Adesanya below:
Taking to Josh Thomson on the WEIGHING IN podcast, the veteran referee opined:
"He [Adesanya] is good and he will continue to be good for years to come but his ability to accept the damage, I do believe, is starting to wane a little bit."
