Leading third men: The 5 referees who oversaw the most UFC fights in 2021

In the wake of a pandemic-ridden 2020, this past year was busy and booming not only for fighters, promoters, and coaches, but referees, as well.

2021 began with three consecutive events at Etihad Arena on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. From there, week after week of audience-less shows took place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.

In April, however, things changed at UFC 261 in Jacksonville, Fla.: the first event held with a full arena of fans since March 2020. For the next six months, UFC Apex shows were interspersed with an occasional pay-per-view with full attendance. Two events, UFC 262 and UFC 265, were held in Houston. UFC 263 took place in Glendale, Ariz. After UFC 267 marked a return to Abu Dhabi, New York hosted UFC 268. Las Vegas hosted the rest of the 2021 schedule of pay-per-views.

Over the span of 12 months, the UFC promoted 43 events. During those shows, 20 referees were used. Below is a full list of every referee that officiated at least one UFC fight in 2021 (in alphabetical order by last name). The list does not include Dana White’s Contender Series fights. The data was calculated using leading MMA database Tapology:

Mike Beltran, Lukasz Bosacki, Herb Dean, James Folsom, Marc Goddard, Al Guinee, Kerry Hatley, Jason Herzog, Vyacheslav Kiselev, Yves Lavigne, Dan Miragliotta, Jacob Montalvo, Daniel Movahedi, Keith Peterson, Jeff Rexroad, Josh Rutgers, Mark Smith, Chris Tognoni, Jerin Valel

Which of those referees did the UFC use the most in 2021? Scroll through the list below to find out.