UFC 115 Officials Assigned; Herb Dean to Referee Liddell-Franklin

The Vancouver Athletic Commission yesterday disclosed the refereeing and judging assignments for Saturday's UFC 115 card, and longtime ref Herb Dean has drawn officiating duties for the main event between Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin. Other "third men" in the cage for the event will be Yves Lavigne, Kevin Dornan and Tony Williamson.

Judging the Liddell-Franklin bout will be Sal D'Amato, Bill Mahood and (cue "The Imperial March") the controversial Nelson "Doc" Hamilton.

Sherdog's Jordan Breen discusses each judge's credentials:

Hamilton is one of MMA's most experienced judges and has been a staple of major MMA events in Nevada and California for years. However, it is worth noting that Hamilton did turn in scorecards for Lyoto Machida over Mauricio "Shogun" Rua last October, and Leonard Garcia over Chan Sung Jung this past April, making him a part of the two most unpopular decisions the sport has seen as of late.

D'Amato has quickly become a preferred judge, especially by Zuffa, as of late. D'Amato has steadily started to log bigger assignments in Nevada as well as international UFC cards, and was selected as one of the three judges to preside over the Machida-Rua rematch in Montreal last May.

Mahood recently retired from active competition and has become involved in the regulatory side of the sport in British Columbia, starting the MMA Association of British Columbia (MMABC), the province's amateur sanctioning body. This will be the first major assignment for the 10-year MMA vet, whose resume thus far is comprised largely of local amateur and pro cards.

The full slate of assignments after the jump.

Jesse Lennox vs. Mike Pyle
Referee: Kevin Dornan, Judges: Lance Gibson, Nelson "Doc" Hamilton, Bill Mahood.

Claude Patrick vs. Ricardo Funch
Referee: Tony Williamson, Judges: Sal D'Amato, Chris Franco, Tony Weeks.

Peter Sobotta vs. James Wilks
Referee: Kevin Dornan, Judges: Chris Franco, Lance Gibson, Nelson "Doc" Hamilton.

Mario Miranda vs. David Loiseau
Referee: Tony Williamson, Judges: Sal D'Amato, Chris Franco, Bill Mahood.

Matt Wiman vs. Mac Danzig
Referee: Yves Lavigne, Judges: Sal D'Amato, Bill Mahood, Tony Weeks.

Evan Dunham vs. Tyson Griffin
Referee: Herb Dean, Judges: Chris Franco, Lance Gibson, Tony Weeks.

Rory MacDonald vs. Carlos Condit
Referee: Kevin Dornan, Judges: Sal D'Amato, Lance Gibson, Nelson "Doc" Hamilton.

Gilbert Yvel vs. Ben Rothwell
Referee: Yves Lavigne, Judges: Nelson "Doc" Hamilton, Bill Mahood, Tony Weeks.

Martin Kampmann vs. Paulo Thiago
Referee: Herb Dean, Judges: Sal D’Amato, Chris Franco, Tony Weeks.

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Patrick Barry
Referee: Yves Lavigne, Judges: Lance Gibson, Nelson "Doc" Hamilton, Tony Weeks.

Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin
Referee: Herb Dean, Judges: Nelson "Doc" Hamilton, Sal D'Amato, Bill Mahood.