Referee and judge assignments for 'UFC 194: Aldo vs. McGregor'

Ubiquitous MMA referees “Big” John McCarthy and Herb Dean will oversee the headliner and co-headliner at next month’s UFC 194 event.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission, which oversees the pay-per-view event on Dec. 12 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, voted unanimously to hire the referees at $1,900 a pop during a meeting today.

McCarthy, the sport’s most well-known official, will be the third man in the cage for a featherweight title-unification fight between undisputed champ Jose Aldo (25-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) and interim titleholder Conor McGregor (18-2 MMA, 6-0 UFC).

Dean will oversee UFC 194’s co-main event, a middleweight title fight between champ Chris Weidman (13-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC) and ex-Strikeforce champ Luke Rockhold (14-2 MMA, 4-1 UFC).

Additionally, the NSAC assigned several veteran Nevada judges to the blockbuster fights. Derek Cleary, Sal D’Amato, and Junichiro Kamijo will score Aldo vs. McGregor, while Adalaide Byrd, Chris Lee and Marcos Rosales will work Weidman vs. Rockhold. The judges will be paid $1,600 for their work.

UFC 194 is expected to do big business for the promotion, with UFC President Dana White reporting earlier this month a $9 million live gate. Additionally, the featherweight title-unifier could set up a McGregor headliner at the 80,000-seat Croke Park in the popular Irish fighter’s hometown of Dublin.

For more on UFC 194, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.