UFC 167 will take place in three weeks at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and Mario Yamasaki has been named the referee for the main event title fight as Georges St-Pierre defends the UFC welterweight title against Johny Hendricks.
Yamasaki was named as the referee on Thursday by the Nevada State Athletic Commission after NSAC Executive Director Keith Kizer recommended Yamasaki being the referee for the fight.
Yamasaki was not been a referee for a Hendricks fight since his 2011 split decision win over Mike Pierce at UFC 133 in Pennsylvania. For St-Pierre, Yamasaki has not been a referee for any of his fights in the UFC.
Along with assigning Yamasaki as the referee, the commission approved Sal D’Amoto, Glenn Trowbridge, and Tony Weeks as the referees for the UFC 167 main event. According to MMA Decisions, D’Amato (205) has the most UFC decisions by a judge with Trowbrige and Weeks both having over 150 decisions.
UFC 167 takes place on November 16th from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, and this will the fourth of five UFC events to take place in Las Vegas in 2013.