UFC 320 referee, judging assignments revealed for ‘Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2’

The upcoming UFC 320 pay-per-view (PPV) event will feature the light heavyweight title fight between reigning 205-pound champion, Magomed Ankalaev, and former division titleholder, Alex Pereira. The action gets underway on Sat., Oct. 4, 2025 from inside the familiar T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ankalaev defeated “Poatan” by ho-hum decision as part of the UFC 313 lineup back in March.

Referee Herb Dean will oversee all five rounds for the “Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2” main event, according to MMA Junkie, with judges Sal D’amato, Derek Cleary, and Chris Lee scoring the bout from cageside. Prior to that, referee Marc Goddard will complement judges Mike Bell, Ben Cartlidge, and Eric Colon for the Merab Dvalishvili (c) vs. Cory Sandhagen bantamweight championship co-main event.

“Sanhagen’s one of my favorite fighters to watch,” former UFC welterweight, Dan Hardy, told The Schmo. “He’s a very, very good problem solver in the moment. He’s good at reading what’s in front of him and adapting his technique. And the thing with Merab because he’s got a very high pace, he keeps going constantly, so there’s almost like a subconscious motor that’s running. That subconscious motor can be a little bit predictable.”

“Someone like Sandhagen’s going to see rhythms,“ Hardy explained. ”I’m expecting knees and uppercuts and damaging things up the center channel and elbows on the inside. I love Merab, but I just feel like his constant work rate can sometimes get him in trouble. And someone as smart as Sandhagen that’s got the tools in the bag in every single range — I think he might cause the upset.”

To see who else is fighting at UFC 320 in Las Vegas click here.