Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports


Herb Dean will be the third man in the cage when Alexander Volkanovski defends his featherweight crown against Yair Rodriguez
in the UFC 290 main event.

Meanwhile, Mike Bell, Ron McCarthy and Sal D’Amato will score the headliner from cageside. The Nevada Athletic Commission on Monday appointed the referees and judges for the two championships fights at UFC 290, which takes place on July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Dean officiated Volkanoski title defenses against Max Holloway (UFC 251), Brian Ortega (UFC 266) and Chan Sung Jung (UFC 273) before Marc Goddard oversaw the City Kickboxing standout’s last two efforts.

In the evening’s co-feature, Jason Herzog will referee the flyweight title tilt between Brandon Moreno and Alexandre Pantoja, while Ben Cartlidge, Junichiro Kamijo and Derek Cleary will serve as judges. In recent bouts, Herzog was the third man in the cage for two of Moreno’s four championship meetings with Deiveson Figueiredo.

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