As more fighters begin to lean more towards retirement, UFC president Dana White would like to see them take a more active role in judging and officiating matches.
The UFC have had its fair share of bad judging calls and it’s something that can hopefully occur less frequently as the sport continues to grow and evolve.
Former Pancrase, PRIDE and UFC fighter Ricardo Almeida will be cageside as one of the main judges at UFC on FOX 3 this weekend and White said he hopes the former 185-pound contender can begin a trend in the sport.
“I would like to see the fighters ref and judge,” White told reporters (h/t mmafighting.com) during a pre-fight press conference at the Beacon Theatre in New York. “It makes all the sense in the world.”
Almeida will be judging one of the card’s main bouts involving Josh Koscheck and Johny Hendricks.
White sees advantages in former fighters having to judge bouts and believes their experience can help influence a more fair outcome when determining the winner.
He considers referee Herb Dean, who has also competed in professional fighters, as the best referee in the sport.
“The guy trains, he knows the sport. Herb Dean knows what its like to have an elbow dropped on your head,” he said. “This isn’t like other sports, you have a bad call in a baseball game and they have 100 more games left. You make a bad call in this sport and it affects his entire career.”
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