The third person in the ring for each of the two UFC Bantamweight Championship fights at UFC 207 was determined at today’s Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting in Las Vegas. The same goes for the judges at cage side who will determine the winners if either bout goes the distance. Here are the official assignments per MMAJunkie:
UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship: Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Ronda Rousey
- Referee: Herb Dean
- Judges: Adalaide Byrd, Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee
UFC Men’s Bantamweight Championship Dominick Cruz (c) vs. Cody Garbrandt
- Referee: John McCarthy
- Judges: Derek Cleary, Jeff Mullen and Tony Weeks
Of Ronda Rousey’s professional fights, Herb Dean had previously refereed her title first defense, where she fought Sarah Kaufman (first round submission win), her third UFC title defense, against Sara McMann (first round body shot TKO win), and her title loss to Holly Holm (second round TKO). Aside from the head kick knockout itself, possibly the most memorable visual of the Holm fight was Dean clutching Rousey as she screamed “NO!!” when she realized she lost her title. The McMann fight is also notable for being considered an early stoppage in some circles. Dean dead also officiated four of Nunes’ fights, but there was nothing particularly memorable about the officiating.
Barring a regional fight with an incomplete record in the Fight Finder, John McCarthy has never refereed a Dominick Cruz bout before. McCarthy was in the cage for Garbrandt’s last two fights though, showing excellent judgment in when he called the stoppage for “No Love’s” knockout wins.
