Referee, judges assigned for Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor UFC 229 title fight

On October 6, in the main event of the stacked UFC 229, undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former UFC featherweight and lightweight champion Conor McGregor will step into the cage to settle their beef.

This fight is expected to be the biggest of the year for the UFC, and one of the biggest in the promotion’s history outright. As such, fans are sure to be interested to know who will be judging the fight, and which referee will be standing inside the cage with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.

The Nevada State Athletic Commission revealed these key assignments on Tuesday (h/t Sherdog).

The cage-side judges for this mammoth showdown will be a trio of Derek Cleary, Sal D’Amato and Junichiro Kamijo. Each judge will be paid a salary of $1,600 for this contest.

The referee, meanwhile, will be the veteran Herb Dean who, despite a pretty serious blunder earlier this month, remains one of the most respected officiators in the game. He’ll pocket $1,900 for reffing this fight.

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s last fight occurred in April, when he captured the UFC lightweight title with a decision defeat of last-minute replacement opponent Al Iaquinta. The title was quietly stripped from the long absent Conor McGregor on the same night. With this title win over Al Iaquinta, Nurmagomedov improved to a flawless 26-0 overall — one of the most impressive records in MMA.

Conor McGregor, on the other hand, has not competed since August of 2017, when he came up short in a blockbuster boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. His most recent MMA bout occurred in November of 2016, when he knocked out Eddie Alvarez to capture the UFC lightweight title. Because he still held the UFC featherweight title he swiped from Jose Aldo at the time, this made him the first fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two weight classes concurrently. He’s 21-3 overall.

What do you think of the referee and judging assignments for UFC 229?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 9/25/2018.