Herb Dean Injured, Forced To Withdraw From Jones Vs. Gustafsson

The bizarre fight week that is UFC 232 received another bit of untimely news. Veteran referee Herb Dean has been forced to withdra from officiating the event.

Jon Jones and Alexander Gustafsson will headline UFC 232 that will now take place at The Forum in Inglewood, Calif. Dean, however, will not be the third man in the Octagon as planned.

Marc Raimondi of MMA Fighting was the first to announce the injury:

Herb Dean is injured and unable to referee the UFC 232 main event Saturday, per CSAC’s Andy Foster. Mike Beltran will step in. CSAC plans to keep the other referees and judges already scheduled for the two title fights when the card was in Nevada. Marc Goddard has Cyborg-Nunes.

— Marc Raimondi (@marcraimondi) December 26, 2018

The extent of Dean’s injury was not disclosed. Although the injury is substantial enough to keep him on the sidelines for this event, we hope the one of the best refs in the business will be back to one hundred percent come 2019. Veteran referee Mike Beltran will be Dean’s replacement for the main event this Saturday night.

Also of note, the co-main event will mark the first time in UFC history that two women champions fight. Bantamweight champ Amanda Nunes will move up in weight to challenge the most dominate female fighter in the world and current featherweight champion Cris Cyborg.

With Beltran stepping in to handle the main event and Marc Goddard officiating the co-main event, UFC 232 seems in good hands despite the loss of Dean.