Magomed Ankalaev and Alex Pereira now know who will be the third man in the cage for their second fight.
At a Tuesday meeting of the Nevada Athletic Commission, referees and judges were voted on and confirmed for the two title fights taking place at UFC 320 on Oct. 4 in Las Vegas.
Herb Dean is set as the referee for the main event when Ankalaev puts his light heavyweight title on the line against Alex Pereira in a rematch. Ankalaev scored a decision victory in their first encounter and now they’ll
run it back as Pereira seeks his revenge with hopes of reclaiming the 205-pound title.
The judges scoring the fight are set with Sal D’Amato, Derek Cleary, and Chris Lee.
Both D’Amato and Lee were involved in the first fight with the judges scoring the win for Ankalaev after five rounds. D’Amato was the lone judge that gave the fight to Ankalaev with a 49-46 scorecard while the other two judges had it 48-47 in his favor.
In the co-main event, Marc Goddard is set to serve as the in-cage official when Merab Dvalishvili looks for his third successful title defense in 2025 as he clashes with Cory Sandhagen.
Mike Bell, Ben Cartlidge, and Eric Colon are set as the judges for the fight.
Sandhagen looks to pull off the upset when he gets his first crack at UFC gold, while Dvalishvili attempts to further solidify his standing as not only the top bantamweight in the sport but also one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in all of MMA.
The remainder of the referee and judging assignments will be made during fight week in Las Vegas ahead of the Oct. 4 event.
