UFC 194 Officials Assigned; ‘Big’ John McCarthy to Referee Jose Aldo vs. Conor McGregor

The best-known referee in mixed martial arts, “Big” John McCarthy, will be the third man in the cage for 2015’s most anticipated title fight.

The Nevada Athletic Commission on Monday assigned officials for UFC 194, which takes place Dec. 12 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. NAC commissioners voted unanimously to install McCarthy as referee for the show’s featherweight title bout between long-ruling king Jose Aldo and interim titlist Conor McGregor.

Herb Dean, who has overseen numerous UFC title bouts, was named as the referee for the card’s co-main event, a middleweight duel pitting champion Chris Weidman against challenger Luke Rockhold.

Judges were also appointed for both title fights during Monday’s NAC session, as Aldo-McGregor will be scored by Derek Cleary, Sal D’Amato and Junichiro Kamijo.

Cleary’s most recent UFC title bout saw him as the dissenting voice in a light heavyweight split decision, as he submitted a 48-47 scorecard for Alexander Gustafsson over Daniel Cormier. D’Amato judged the same fight 48-47 in favor of Cormier. Kamijo last judged a UFC title bout in February 2013, when he awarded Aldo a scorecard of 49-46 against Frankie Edgar.

Set to judge Weidman-Rockhold are Adalaide Byrd, Chris Lee and Marcos Rosales.

Byrd also scored Aldo-Edgar 49-46 in favor of the champ in her last UFC championship assignment. Lee most recently judged the UFC 175 middleweight tilt between Weidman and Lyoto Machida, scoring the contest 49-45 for Weidman. Rosales will work his third UFC title bout of the year after seeing Jon Jones win 49-46 over Cormier and giving the same scorecard to Demetrious Johnson in his second bout with John Dodson.