Former UFC star Ronda Rousey has been pulled into the fighter pay debate after her husband - former UFC heavyweight Travis Browne - lashed out at fighters for complaining.
Browne showed full support for the UFC regarding underpaid fighters earlier this week and labelled those who "cry" about pay issues as " whiny little b****** ".
The now-retired heavyweight said the UFC always treated him fairly and sometimes even overpaid him for fighting.
Rousey was the first female fighter to sign for the UFC in 2012. She was one of the promotion's biggest stars and highest-paid fighters before signing for the WWE in 2017.
Fighter pay has been a heavily debated subject in the UFC over the past few years, with the conversation recently being led by heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and former champion Miesha Tate.
But McCarthy thinks that Browne is in a different position to most fighters.
He said on the ' Weighing In ' podcast: "First off, Travis is sitting in a different position. Because he's got a wife that made a lot of money. Good job, Travis! Very nice.
"You don't have to worry about what he made. Look at what she made!"
"Here's the point. The promoter is always going to try to get the fighter for the least amount possible. That's his job. That's how he makes money.
"The fighter is always going to want more. That's their job, to try to get more. You've got to meet somewhere in the middle."
And McCarthy signed off by saying he didn't intend to hate on Browne: "I love Travis. He's a smart guy, he's doing what he wants. Best of luck to both of them."
Browne - who made $120,000 for his last fight - retired from fighting the same year Rousey left the promotion after losing four of his last five fights.
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UFC president Dana White explained the promotion's business model of building up their brand over a single fighter such as Rousey and how it benefits the entire roster.
He said: "Once you have the brand plus Chuck Liddell, the brand plus Matt Hughes, the brand plus Ronda Rousey, the brand plus Conor McGregor … it’s powerful for everybody.
"It’s a very incredible relationship when you have both, the brand plus the star."
And Browne scolded fighters and the media for dramatising the narrative of fighters being underpaid.
He continued: "So these people that are complaining, people in the media that don’t f****** hear that they hear the little b**** that’s crying and complaining.
"Because you get these, like, entitled people. Or I don’t know where the f*** it comes from.
"It’s like, they’re just whiny little b******, and then they go to more whiny little bitches that’ll write about it."
