The referees have been appointed for UFC 285 main event and co-main events at the T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.
Jon Jones will headline the card. He makes his long-awaited return to heavyweight against Ciryl Gane in order to crown a champion after Francis Ngannou’s departure from the UFC. Valentina Shevchenko will defend her flyweight title, against Alexa Grassio.
The assignments were done on Wednesday at the Nevada Athletic Commission’s monthly meeting.
Jones will be battling Gane in main event.
Referee Marc Goddard is the third man in his cage. The fight will serve as Jones’ return for the first time in over three years after he last defended his UFC light heavyweight title and then relinquished the belt with plans to move to a new division.
The judges for the fight will be Mike Bell, Sal D’Amato and Ron McCarthy.
In the co-main event Jason Herzog will be the referee. Shevchenko vs. Grasso is the main event. The 125-pound title is up for grabs.
The judges for the fight are Ben Cartlidge and Derek Cleary.
Shevchenko already holds the record for the most title defenses in the history of the UFC women’s division with seven and now she’ll go for an eighth straight defense when she faces Grasso, who is looking to pull off the upset after going 4-0 since moving up to the flyweight division after previously competing at 115 pounds.
The rest of the referee and judging assignments for the remainder of the card will be announced on the night of UFC 285 in March.
Source: https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/2/15/23601228/referees-judges-assigned-jon-jones-vs-ciryl-gane-and-valentina-shevchenko-vs-alexa-grasso-at-ufc-285?rand=96749
