Well respected referee Herb Dean has drawn the assignment as the third man in the cage for Saturday's UFC 128 main event pitting champion Mauricio "Shogun" Rua against challenger Jon Jones.

New Jersey state athletic control board legal counsel Nick Lembo informed MMA Fighting of the decision on Tuesday.

Dean is one of the most experienced officials in the sport, reportedly presiding over 4,000 matches during his career. His most recent UFC main event was in last month's UFC 127 draw between BJ Penn and Jon Fitch in Australia.

While Dean will decide things in the cage, if the fight goes to the judges, Douglas Crobsy, RIFT Platinum Cardo Urso and Dave Tirelli will be scoring the bout at cageside.

Crosby has been judging fights for over a decade, but found himself in some hot water in 2010, after messageboard comments to fans following Frankie Edgar's controversial UFC 112 win over BJ Penn. rift gold He was back to judging four months later and has judged notable fights since then, including the UFC 120 main event, in which Michael Bisping won on points against Yoshihiro Akiyama, as well as the UFC 126 co-main event, in which Forrest Griffin defeated Rich Franklin by decision.

Meanwhile, RIFT Platinum Urso was also a judge in the main event of last year's New Jersey UFC show, scoring the welterweight title fight 50-45 in favor of champ Georges St. Rift Gold Pierre over Dan Hardy.

Tirelli is a former MMA fighter who holds a notable win over former UFC star Luke Cummo before retiring.

Rua (19-4) and Jones (12-1) have only been to a decision five times in a combined 36 matches