Three highly experienced referees have been assigned to the UFC's first event on network TV.
California State Athletic Commission Executive Director George Dodd today informed MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that 'Big' John McCarthy, Herb Dean and Larry Landless will oversee the action for UFC on FOX 1, which takes place Nov. 12 at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.
Specific fight assignments haven't been decided, Dodd said, which means that the job for the all-important heavyweight title fight between champ Cain Velasquez and Junior Dos Santos remains up for grabs.
UFC president Dana White has already been vocal about whom he'd like to see oversee the fight, which is the only bout confirmed to air on FOX. After a long diatribe on the refereeing controversy of the recent boxing mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz, he hoped that Dean would be the third man in the cage.
"I think Herb Dean's the best referee in the business," White said. "Now I won't get Herb Dean because I said that."
Dean, of course, is one of the most recognizable officials in the business and has overseen countless UFC bouts. Perhaps more iconic, though, is McCarthy, who oversaw nearly every bout in the octagon in the promotion's early days and returned in August 2010 after a nearly three-year absence. His use of the Mills Lane phrase "let's get it on!" is inseparable from the sport's history.
Landless has been a constant fixture of the Southern California MMA scene for more than a decade, though he hasn't overseen a UFC bout in eight years. At UFC 45, he was roundly criticized for his stoppage of a fight between Phil Baroni and Evan Tanner. Landless believed Baroni was verbally signaling submission, but as it turned out, he was actually saying he could continue amid a barrage of elbows from Tanner. An enraged Baroni punched Landless after the stoppage and was later suspended by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board, which oversaw the event.
Judging assignments have also yet to be confirmed for UFC on Fox 1, Dodd said.
Source: UFC on FOX 1 refs include 'Big' John McCarthy, Herb Dean and Larry Landless