Bad Boy Presents Bloody Elbow Radio - UFC 129, Bellator, Mark Pavelich

Bloody Elbow Radio, presented by Bad Boy, was live Thursday afternoon to discuss all the latest in MMA. Hosts Matt Bishop, Forrest Lynn and Mike Fagan broke down the latest news, including the online poker ban and how it affects MMA. We also talked all the latest in UFC 129, including discussion of Georges St. Pierre, Jake Shields, Jose Aldo and Mark Hominick. Then we had a long discussion on the state of Bellator.

We were joined by MFC owner Mark Pavelich for a very interesting interview to discuss his article on "celebrity referees" and other things related to MMA ethics. We also got the scoop on MFC 30 and how contract negotiations with welterweight champion Douglas Lima are going.

"When I make those kind of comments on officials and things like that, I'm not doing it for actual publicity, I'm doing it to make the sport better. I've always had an issue with a casino or a promoter paying an official. They should never pay an official. It should always come through the commission."

"It's not the promotion's doing to bring in officials. They should never do that. It should always be done through the commission. I've never brought in an official per se, to say, 'I brought in that official and I had to pay him.' The commission brought him in and then I had to pay him. I paid the commission to pay the official."

Pavelich also said he'd spoke to John McCarthy about the whole situation:

"I verbally spoke to Big John. It went very well. Big John's a straight shooter and I'm a straight shooter. At the same time, the article is my article, but my writer writes it. There's somethings that he added in there that he probably shouldn't have. When someone's iconic like "Big" John McCarthy, there's a certain line you shouldn't cross in my opinion and on occasion, we make some mistakes and cross those lines. I don't think Big John should be centered out in the article. I've never used that term celebrity referees in my entire life. My writer used that term, but they are now. Don't be mistaken. Guys like Big John and Herb (Dean) and Yves (Lavigne), people recognize them because in our sport, that's kind of how it is."

Don't forget, Bloody Elbow Radio is sponsored by Bad Boy. Bad Boy, the 2010 World MMA Awards winner for "Best Technical Clothing Brand," can be found at BadBoyMMA.com. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook and tell them Bloody Elbow sent you.

Bloody Elbow Radio returns to the air at 4 p.m. ET Tuesday as we begin the final build to UFC 129.

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