The referees and judges for the upcoming Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano card have been selected by the California State Athletic Commission ahead of the cards on Saturday from the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. with the event airing on Netflix.
The commission shared the selections with MMA Fighting on Wednesday.
In the main event, legendary official “Big” John McCarthy makes his return to refereeing and he’ll serve as the third man in the cage when Rousey and Carano clash in the main event. McCarthy is arguably
still the most famous referee in MMA history and he decided to return to his old stomping ground after moving into a commentary role with Bellator MMA and hosting a podcast alongside UFC and Strikeforce veteran Josh Thomson.
Now McCarthy is back in a familiar role as referee as he’ll oversee one of the most talked about fights in 2026 with Rousey coming out of retirement and competing for the first time since 2016. Carano is coming back from an even longer layoff with her last fight happening all the way back in 2009.
The three judges scoring the fight are Derek Cleary, Michael Bell and Felicia Oh.
In the co-main event, Nate Diaz clashes with Mike Perry in a welterweight bout between two fighters who cut their teeth competing in the UFC. More recently, Diaz has crossed over to boxing for high profile fights against Jake Paul and Jorge Masvidal while Perry has become the face of bare-knuckle fighting in BKFC where he’s racked up wins over names such as Eddie Alvarez, Luke Rockhold and Michael “Venom” Page.
Veteran referee Mike Beltran oversees the Diaz vs. Perry fight with UFC veteran Chris Leben, Marcel Varela and Raphael Davis scoring the fight as judges.
Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou is also competing on the card against Philipe Lins and Herb Dean serves as the referee for that fight. The three judges are set with Ron McCarthy, Jonathan Romero and Chris Crail.
Here are the full referee and judging assignments for the Rousey vs. Carano card on Saturday
Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano
Referee: John McCarthy
Judges: Derek Cleary, Michael Bell, Felicia Oh
Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry
Referee: Mike Beltran
Judges: Chris Leben, Marcel Verela, Raphael Davis
Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins
Referee: Herb Dean
Judges: Ron McCarthy, Jonathan Romero, Chris Crail
Salahdine Parnasse vs. Kenneth Cross
Referee: Jason Herzog
Judges: Derek Cleary, Michael Bell, Felicia Oh
Junior dos Santos vs. Robelis Despaigne
Referee: Frank Trigg
Judges: Chris Leben, Daniel Mobley, Chris Crail
Namo Baker vs. Jake Babian
Referee: Jason Herzog
Judges: Ron McCarthy, Michael Bell, Raphael Davis
Adriano Moraes vs. Phumi Nkuta
Referee: Herb Dean
Judges: Derek Cleary, Daniel Mobley, Gokor Chivichyan
Jason Jackson vs. Jefferson Creighton
Referee: John McCarthy
Judges: George Allen, Marcel Varela, Jon Marigliano
David Ozmanian vs. Albert Morales
Referee: Jason Herzog
Judges: Jovany Varela, Gokor Chivichyan, Raphael Davis
Aline Pereira vs. Jade Masson-Wong
Referee: Mike Beltran
Judges: George Allen, Jonathan Romero, John Margliano
Chris Avila vs. Brandon Jenkins
Referee: Frank Trigg
Judges: Jovany Varela, Daniel Mobley, Jon Marigliano
