The referees and judges for the UFC 239 main and co-main events in Las Vegas have now been assigned following a Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting on Wednesday.
Veteran referee Herb Dean will be the third man in the octagon when light heavyweight champion Jon Jones looks to defend his title against Thiago Santos in the main event at UFC 239 on July 6.
Derek Cleary, Mike Bell and Junichiro Kamijo were assigned as judges for the Jones vs. Santos fight as well.
The Nevada Commission also granted Jones his full fight license to compete in the state that will remain in effect until the end of the years. Jones was previously granted a one-fight license to compete at UFC 235 following a lengthy hearing in January.
The commission required Jones to undergo extensive drug testing after he had previously tested positive for Turinabol following his win over Daniel Cormier in 2017. Jones continued to test positive for trace amounts of the banned substance but was essentially exonerated of any additional wrongdoing by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency), who believe the trace amounts still showing in his system were the result of a ‘pulsing’ effect rather than a new ingestion of the drug.
With his license now approved, Jones will look for his second straight title defense in 2019 after dispatching Anthony Smith by unanimous decision at UFC 235.
In the co-main event, Amanda Nunes will look to defend her UFC bantamweight title against former champion Holly Holm.
Marc Goddard will oversee the action in that fight as the referee with Sal D’amato, Chris Lee and Dave Hagen on board as judges for the matchup.
The fight will serve as Nunes’ return to 135 pounds after she claimed a second UFC championship at featherweight this past December with a stunning first round knockout against Cris Cyborg.
UFC 239 caps off International Fight Week 2019 with the card taking place from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.