Herb Dean’s misstep at UFC 169 had little effect on his status as one of the top referees in the sport, as Dean was unanimously selected by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) on Friday to oversee UFC 170’s main event, which features a women’s bantamweight title bout pitting Ronda Rousey (8-0) against undefeated Olympic silver medalist Sara McMann (7-0).
In addition, NSAC officials unanimously selected judges Chris Lee, Glenn Trowbridge and Junichiro Kamijo to score the bout cageside in the event that Rousey reaches the judges’ scorecards for the first time of her professional career.
Dean drew widespread criticism in early February for the perceived early stoppage which marred the end of UFC 169’s title bout between Renan Barao and Urijah Faber. Dean called an end to the contest in Barao’s favor midway through the bout’s opening frame, despite the fact that Faber flashed a thumbs up signal in response to calls for intelligent defense.
“You know you’ve heard me up here a million times talk about Herb Dean — I think he’s the best referee in the business,” UFC President Dana White said following the incident. “He rarely ever makes mistakes, but he made a mistake tonight. Faber was blocking those shots, he gave the thumbs up. You know, the guy’s the best in the business as far as I’m concerned. Tonight he made a mistake.”
UFC 170 is expected to take place February 22, 2014 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, NV. An updated fight card can be seen below.
Main Card (Pay-Per-View, 10 p.m. ET)
Ronda Rousey vs. Sara McMann
Daniel Cormier vs. Rashad Evans
Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia
Mike Pyle vs. T.J. Waldburger
Stephen Thompson vs. Robert Whittaker
Preliminary Card (FOX Sports 1, 8 p.m. ET)
Alexis Davis vs. Jessica Eye
Raphael Assuncao vs. TBD
Lucas Martins vs. Aljamain Sterling
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass, 7 p.m. ET)
Zach Makovsky vs. Josh Sampo
Erik Koch vs. Rafaello Oliveira
Ernest Chavez vs. Yosdenis Cedeno