Big John McCarthy, the legendary MMA referee, recently shared a fascinating story that blends the worlds of Hollywood martial arts and legitimate UFC competition. During an appearance on a podcast alongside Rampage Jackson, McCarthy recounted a memorable encounter with action star Steven Seagal that proved surprisingly prophetic.
The Backstage Prediction
At UFC 129 in Toronto, Canada, McCarthy found himself in an unexpected conversation with Seagal before the Lyoto Machida versus Randy Couture. Drawing from his previous work with Anderson Silva, Seagal approached McCarthy with a confident prediction about how the action would unfold.
“Steven goes, ‘Lyoto’s gonna do the same thing did you see Anderson against Vitor Belfort?'” McCarthy recalled. “And I said, ‘Yeah, that was a nice kick, not an easy to pull off.'”
Lyoto Machida vs Randy Couture https://t.co/Dr3ThSPd1G
— MMA Gone Wild (@mmagonewild) September 3, 2019
The Prediction Comes True
What makes this story remarkable is that during the actual bout, Machida executed exactly the kick Seagal had described, catching Couture off guard. Seagal, who was seated behind McCarthy during the fight, couldn’t contain his excitement at having called it correctly.
“Steven Seagal is sitting down right behind me and as soon as Lyoto pulls off that kick, Steven yells all over me, ‘I told you!'” McCarthy shared. The referee even went to Couture afterward to share the odd prediction, adding another layer to this unusual tale.
Seagal vs. Van Damme
During the same podcast conversation, the discussion shifted to a long-debated hypothetical matchup between two action movie martial arts icons: Steven Seagal and Jean-Claude Van Damme. McCarthy and Jackson concluded that Seagal would likely emerge victorious in such a confrontation, primarily due to his physical advantages.
“He’s a huge guy,” McCarthy noted about Seagal. “He’s got that big belly too now.” The consensus centered on Seagal’s imposing stature and significant body mass as decisive factors that would potentially overwhelm Van Damme’s more compact frame in any theoretical matchup.
The entire episode serves as a reminder that in the world of martial arts and combat sports, reality can sometimes be more surprising than fiction – especially when Steven Seagal is involved.
