John McCarthy Praises ‘Leader’ Scott Coker For Handling Bellator 241 Cancelation

John McCarthy loves how Bellator president Scott Coker handled the cancelation of Bellator 241 last Friday.

On March 13, the quarter-finals of the featherweight grand prix would conclude in a very solid card. It would be under unique circumstances as there would be no fans or media in attendance. Yet, just hours before the event was set to start, Coker pulled the plug on the event where he also paid every single fighter. For that, McCarthy said that shows how good of a leader the Bellator bossman is.

“Here’s a guy that made the hard decision,” McCarthy said of Coker to co-host Josh Thomson on the pair’s Weighing In podcast (via BJPENN.com). “He’s going to lose a lot of money for his company by making this decision. He goes and he makes the decision, pays the fighters all their money, pays the employees their money, and you know what? That’s what a real leader does. A really leader steps up and says ‘this is what’s important for you, your families, your health and safety.’

“He made the hard choice, he made it on his own, he did what was right,” McCarthy added, continuing his praise of Coker. “He handled it beautifully and you’ve got to commend the man for being a leader that he is.”

With Bellator canceling events, the UFC went on with UFC Brasilia the next day. But, the promotion has now postponed their next three events.

For John McCarthy, he says the Las Vegas-based promotion was playing a risky legal game by continuing on with events.

“I always look at things in a liability format because that’s my background and I had to work against lawyer all the time,” McCarthy said. “Someone along the way, if they get sick, they’re going to say ‘well [the UFC] made me work’. Then they’re going to pull someone like Dana in and go ‘Mr. White, did you not see the President put the country in a state of emergency?’ He’d have to say yes, I know that. Then it’s gonna be well did you know that Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, NHL Hockey, they all suspended their operations. And around the world, soccer, they suspended theirs because they were worried about people’s health?’ He’s going to have to say ‘yes’ to all of that. Which is going to lead him down a road where he’s going to lose.’”

What do you make of John McCarthy praising Scott Coker?