Big John Leaves Fight Network; Mauro Ranallo Outed as Scumbag

Bloody Elbow passes along this blog post/resignation letter from "Big" John McCarthy, in which the beloved referee bids farewell to his fans at The Fight Network; McCarthy took a job as an MMA analyst for the cable channel after leaving the UFC in December. Wrote BJM:

Well this is my farewell from the Fight Network. While I will not miss what has happened or transpired at the company, I am really going to miss some very special people that I have come to know and respect in my short time with them.

The Fight Network started out as the vision of Mike Garrow. Mike's vision for the network was one of the reasons I decided to leave refereeing and start a new career in commentating and analytical work. Mike has an incredible energy and is always coming up with new ideas and he did a miraculous job in getting The Fight Network from a simple idea into a fully functioning cable channel that covers the sports of Mixed Martial Arts, Boxing and Professional Wrestling 24 hours a day. It is very hard for anyone not associated with something like this to understand how much really goes into 24 hours of programming...

Mauro Ranallo..... Wow. I don't really think many people truly know how talented Mauro really is...He is incredibly smart and has a photographic memory that makes the rest of us look retarded...

A few people have said that I have attacked the UFC. That is simply not true. I have never said anything bad about the UFC. I spent 14 years of my life trying to build up the UFC and make people understand how incredible the fighters of MMA were. I considered myself very lucky in the fact that I was able to be around the UFC for as long as I was and you never know maybe I will go back to refereeing and someday work another UFC.

To all of the higher ups that have taken over the Fight Network over the last year I only have this to say.............. Shame on you..................

There's a lot more to it than that, so feel free to swing by and read all of Big John's gracious words. But you might be wondering why McCarthy is leaving after less than a year — and why those higher-ups should be ashamed. Luckily, former TFN broadcaster JT McCarthy (no relation to John) aired all of the network's dirty laundry in an online forum. And not even the Dean of Tortured MMA Metaphors was spared.

JT McCarthy worked at The Fight Network until 2.5 months ago. Two weeks ago, he responded to an Underground Forum question about TFN's status with this rant:

The first year that I was there was officially the 2nd year they were in business as myself, Randy Couture, Loretta Hunt and Big John were brought in fulltime. We had a blast, flying out every month to various events, getting exclusive behind the scenes access and sit-downs with the likes of Randy, Josh Barnett, Arlovski, Big John, GSP and even Dana himself just to name a few...We'd cover everything leading up to the event, including the pre-fight presser, weigh-in coverage and general day-to-day activities and pre fight training sessions. That would lead us into the event, where we would continue to cover everything post-fight related, breakdowns of the fights with me hosting and Randy [Couture] breaking it all down in his own words.

Now, enter 2008. New ownership, new COO's, CFO's, CEO's, ABC's and EFG's etc. Not ONE with any idea on how to properly manage a company, nor deligate authority or more importantly-responsibility.

A former Production Director took it upon himself to re-air the finish of the Couture/Sylvia finish on our post show from Columbus...without written consent from the company that was kind enough to grant us all the access we enjoyed. Zuffa was unthrilled to say the least, and rightfully so. These were the kinds of people that TFN had hired at this point in time to run things behind the camera. Said PD was fired, TFN lost ALL credentials to the UFC and that was that. Then with new management came money issues, it was insane. Money was just being flushed away with ZERO product to show for it, people were let go right, left and center (...centre for the Canadians reading this)

Loretta left, Randy had his issues with the company and it's direction, I took off, 20 others were fired, and to be honest I think they have 2 on air staff at this point in time. Mauro Ranallo and John Ramdeen-who had zero on camera experience before being shoved infront of it due to lack of staff. I won't even get into Mauro, we'd be here all day discussing everything from potential sexual harrassment charges to public intoxication. As it stands now, the new CEO was fired last month as was his right hand cronie. The original CEO was a great man with expert vision and direction, he knew his way around a boardroom like a champ and actually cared about people. He'll be missed.

All in all, it was a good early run at TFN, but then stupidity took over like a virus and the rest is history. Like I said at the top, there are ALOT of things I left out, but the demise of TFN isn't a matter of "if" it's simply a matter of "when" And it will be sooner rather than later.

Wait a minute...what was that about Mauro Ranallo? McCarthy explains:

I'm shocked that it took TFN that long to lose the UFC credentials, considering when you put Mauro at a dinner table with 3 female PR Reps from Zuffa and he proceeds to tell them to their faces that they are "...dumb c#$ts, who know nothing about MMA and never will" you'd think it would've been at THAT point UFC would've banned TFN due to his antics. And that was just one of several incidents in Columbus during that weekend...

I was also present for an altercation in which Mauro physically attacked a fellow employee for no reason what-so-ever. If I'm not mistaken, it was due to the employee simply asking him a question about an upcoming report that was to be filmed for the 'Knockout News' feature. Mauro snapped and dived at him and had to be restraigned by several people in the office. As for my "beef" with the guy, it can't even be classified as such. It's just my complete and utter disgust with all that he does, he's not at all professional, treats people he feels are under him like garbage and is without question, thee worst company spokesman/on air rep that one could have...

As for TFN going off air, those rumors are still VERY true, I can assure you. Matter of fact, they are much more than rumors

Tough break for Fight Network fans, as well as Mauro Ranallo fans, who might have to deal with the fact that the EliteXC/Affliction wordsmith is a drunken heel off-camera. Damn. It's always the ones you least expect...