Big John McCarthy says the most he ever made refereeing a UFC event was $2,000

The veteran referee said the fee covered "the entire night" at UFC 217 in 2017, and that Dan Miragliotta "probably made $1,600" for the Tom Nolan v Renato Moicano fight.

Big John McCarthy has said the most he ever made from the UFC was $2,000 for a full night of refereeing, telling The Ariel Helwani Show on Monday that the money covered every fight he worked at the event.

McCarthy said "the most I ever made from the UFC in a fight was $2,000" and placed it at "the last show I ever did in New York in 2017". That was UFC 217, where he refereed two championship fights, Joanna Jedrzejczyk against Rose Namajunas and Georges St-Pierre against Michael Bisping. He said: "I got $2,000 for that show." He added: "So everyone that sits there and says, oh, all they care about is money. No." Asked by Helwani whether the figure was per fight, he said: "That's for the entire night. That's for all the fights."

Helwani raised the subject after saying Renato Moicano had asked how much referees even get paid. Moicano lost to Tom Nolan by third-round TKO in the UFC Vegas 123 main event, and Helwani guessed at $1,100 to $1,200 for a fight like that one. McCarthy said he could not give an exact figure, but that Miragliotta "probably made $1,600 for that fight".

Asked whether pay is part of the reason few new officials have come in, McCarthy said there were a lot of things to look at and that betting "has become a huge part". He said officials who do things right are still maligned and called all kinds of names. "They have death threats," he said, adding that "you could only take so much". He tells officials to get off social media.

McCarthy said officials make "a little bit more money now" and that numbered shows pay more than a card such as UFC Vegas 123, but that it "absolutely has an effect" after a while, until "this isn't worth it".

McCarthy, who runs a course for referees and judges, has also said on the Weighing In podcast that Miragliotta was unfair to Moicano when he stood him up from back control.

READ NEXTBig John McCarthy says Dan Miragliotta was unfair to Renato Moicano at UFC Vegas 123Read the next story →

Every UK fight result and what's next, every Friday. Get the free UK fight briefing

Add Combat Sports UK as a preferred source on Google