Dana White branded ‘clickbait b*tch’ by UFC referee legend John McCarthy over gloating video targeting media

Legendary MMA referee John McCarthy has accused Dana White of being a hypocritical “clickbait b*tch” after the UFC boss took aim at the media in a smug video about the success of the promotion in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this week, White posted a self-congratulatory clip praising the achievements of his promotion in keeping events going during 2020 while naming and shaming members of the media who had expressed concerns about fight cards proceeding amid the coronavirus crisis.

Former UFC referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy, who now works as a broadcaster for rival promotion Bellator, was briefly mentioned in White’s hit piece on the media – but has now fired back at the UFC boss, calling him “pathetic” and accusing him of taking comments out of context.  

“[Dana White] says ‘I don’t give a f*ck about the media,’ but then he always complains about clickbait. ‘These media guys and that clickbait bullsh*t they do.’ What the f*ck did you and your little team do, man? You little clickbait b*tch. I just cracked up. I go, ‘You are so pathetic,’” McCarthy said of White on an episode of Weighing In, as reported by MMA Junkie. 

“First off, you need to have your own little pat on the back, ‘OK, let me pat you on the back,’ because you took everything out of context and made it to where were you were the hero,” the 58-year-old added.

“Congratulations, hero Dana. Oh, let me bow down to you. Unbelievable. My god. When are you going to figure out? You know what? Just don’t worry about it. Do your thing you did. You did great. The UFC had a fantastic year. Let’s be honest about everything that occurred, and let’s be honest about your video because your video is clickbait, and it’s bullsh*t, and it’s out of context. It’s ridiculous.”

McCarthy took issue with the notion that he had been against events proceeding in the pandemic, saying he was more concerned about the initial measures that were in place to protect fighters and staff.

He also said the UFC had selectively omitted figures such as commentator Joe Rogan, who had also expressed some concerns about fight cards going ahead amid the Covid-19 threat.

“It’s kind of funny that all of his little editors and everything with his video, they didn’t put Joe Rogan on there,” McCarthy added.

“Do you know why? I wonder why. Let’s see. Oh, because it doesn’t look good. Because Joe Rogan said what? ‘I am not going to do any commentary. I’m not going to do any commentary but it ain’t going to be me.’ Because? He didn’t know what was going on and he was worried about stuff – and that’s OK to be worried about.”

McCarthy said that ultimately he had been at the UFC before Dana White had even arrived at the promotion, and that the pair “owed each other nothing."

“Let me make you clear to you mother*ckers,” McCarthy said. “I was there a long f*cking time before Dana White.

“You want to see a picture of Dana White when I first f*cking met him. I’ll show you his little dweebie ass.

“I was not brought in by Dana White. I had to work with Dana White. And I will tell you Dana White did a great job of making the UFC what it is. He worked his ass off. He deserves a ton of credit for it.

“But don’t think that I f*cking owe him anything. I don’t owe him anything, and he doesn’t owe me anything.”

John McCarthy and Dana White pictured in 2013. © Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

White's video and comments received a huge wave of support from fans online, with many also taking aim at the media in their replies – although some media members pushed back on the comments.

Guardian columnist Karim Zidan said White had "learned a lot from his buddy Donald Trump." 

MMA Junkie's Dave Doyle pointed out: "Weird how Dana always skips the part where the UFC lost millions and millions for years until the scumbag media started covering their events and then things turned around."

Back in March, White said some members of the MMA media are “the weakest, wimpiest people on Earth,” while in June he said that “the entire world has turned into pussies overnight” because of the Covid-19 pandemic and that it was “embarrassing.”