The California State Athletic Commission has set the officials for MVP MMA 1, with Big John McCarthy assigned to referee Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano in the Netflix main event.
Ariel Helwani reported the top three referee assignments from CSAC:
Referee assignments for the top 3 fights on Saturday, per CSAC:
John McCarthy: Rousey x Carano (perfect choice)
Mike Beltran: Diaz x Perry
Herb Dean: Ngannou x Lins
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) May 14, 2026
McCarthy will be the third person in the cage for Rousey vs. Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Derek Cleary, Michael Bell, and Felicia Oh will judge the five-round headliner.
McCarthy’s officiating history dates to UFC 2 in 1994. He became one of MMA’s most recognized referees during the sport’s rule-building years, stepped away from UFC officiating in 2018 to work as a broadcaster and analyst, then later returned to refereeing.
Rousey vs. Carano matches two major names from women’s MMA history. Rousey is 12-2 in MMA with nine submissions and three knockouts. Carano is 7-1 with three knockouts, one submission, and three decision wins. Rousey has not fought since her 2016 UFC title loss to Amanda Nunes, while Carano has not competed since her 2009 Strikeforce loss to Cris Cyborg.
Netflix Sports posted the fight promo below:
Mike Beltran Gets Diaz vs. Perry, Herb Dean Gets Ngannou vs. Lins
The co-main event between Nate Diaz and Mike Perry will have Mike Beltran as referee. Chris Leben, Marcel Varela, and Raphael Davis will judge that fight.
Leben is a former UFC middleweight who now works as an official in California. He finished his MMA career at 22-12, went 12-10 across 22 UFC appearances, and held the inaugural WEC middleweight title.
Herb Dean will referee Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins. Ron McCarthy, Jonathan Romero, and Chris Crail will judge the heavyweight fight.
Dean is one of the most experienced active referees in MMA. Before officiating full-time, he fought professionally from 2001 to 2007 and went 2-3 as a heavyweight. His officiating résumé includes major UFC title fights, ONE Championship assignments, and other high-level bouts.
Ngannou enters the Lins fight with an 18-3 overall MMA record. His UFC run ended at 12-2 after he defended the heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270, then left the promotion when contract talks collapsed and the UFC stripped him in January 2023.
