The UFC’s 2024 schedule is in the books.
This past year was busy and booming not only for fighters, promoters, and coaches, but referees, as well. The UFC held events in nine U.S. jurisdictions (California, Florida, Kentucky, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Texas and Utah) and nine international countries ( Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Macau, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom).
Over the span of 12 months, the UFC promoted 42 events. During those shows, 50 referees were used – an 8.7 percent increase in the number of referees (46) used across 43 events in 2023.
With the increased diversification of officials and locations, the number of fights refereed by last year’s leaders bumped down on an individual basis, except for the leader, who hit the exact same number of fights year over year.
Below is a full list of every referee that officiated at least one UFC fight in 2024 (in alphabetical order by last name). The list does not include Dana White’s Contender Series, “Road to UFC,” or “The Ultimate Fighter” fights. The data was calculated using comprehensive MMA database Tapology:
Todd Anderson, Brian Beauchamp, Mike Beltran, Nick Berens, Lukasz Bosacki, Luke Boutin, Christophe Chapuis, Joe Coca, George Conley, Gary Copeland, Mark Craig, Herb Dean, Thomas Fan, Andrew Glenn, Marc Goddard, Blake Grice, Kerry Hatley, Jason Herzog, Greg Kleynjans, Kevin MacDonald, Osiris Maia, Eric McMahon, Dan Miragliotta, Rich Mitchell, Rob Mooney, Jacob Montalvo, Daniel Movahedi, Joel Ojeda, Gasper Oliver, Keith Peterson, Steve Perceval, Jim Perdios, Loic Pora, Fernando Portella, Bladmir Puga, Vitor Ribeiro, Matthew Rocham, Jonathan Romero, Fernando Salas, Kevin Sataki, Dave Seljestad, Joao Claudio Soares, Andy Social, Mark Smith, Josh Stewart, Chris Tognoni, Tyler Tomlinson, Frank Trigg, Jerin Valel, and Matt Wynne.
Nine officials listed above refereed a double-digit number of fights for the promotion. Which of those referees did the UFC use the most in 2024? Scroll through the list below to find out.
9: Kerry Hatley (14)
Texas-based referee Kerry Hatley just cracked the double-digit threshold with a little over a dozen UFC fights officiated in 2024. Hatley has also been one of the promotion’s main officials for Power Slap since its emergence.
8: Dan Miragliotta (23)
One of the longest-tenured referees in MMA, Dan Miragliotta comes in at No. 8. In 2025, Miragliotta will reach his 18th anniversary of his UFC officiating debut, which took place at UFC 78 in November 2007.
7: Keith Peterson (34)
Keith Peterson saw a downtick in UFC fights officiated in 2024. However, Tapology data shows he may have been the most active referee of any on this list when it came to overall fights officiated, not just UFC.
6: Mike Beltran (38)
Mike Beltran made a return to officiating in 2024 after a health scare knocked him out of action for much of 2023. It was a welcomed sight seeing the man with the most notorious mustache in MMA back in action, as he slotted in at No. 6 overall.
4 (tie): Jason Herzog, Chris Tognoni (52)
Fourth place was a tie between veteran officials Jason Herzog and Chris Tognoni. Both men have solidified themselves as most-used officials, year-in and year-out.
3: Herb Dean (53)
The most recognizable face perhaps ever in the MMA officiating world, Herb Dean slots in at No. 3, the lowest he’s been since MMA Junkie began tracking in 2020. However, Dean was still incredibly busy in 2024, as he is frequently used in promotions across the world – not just UFC.
2: Marc Goddard (55)
Although Marc Goddard officiated one less fight than he did in 2023, he moves up in the power rankings, coming in at No. 2 for the first time since MMA Junkie started tracking in 2020. Goddard is one of the most universally-used officials.
1: Mark Smith (65)
Mark Smith maintains his spot as the No. 1 most-used official by the UFC, a title that he first earned in 2023 when he also refereed 65 fights. Smith is a mainstay of the Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC), under which he is frequently used for events in Las Vegas.
Check out the rankings from year’s past:
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Leading third men: The 9 referees who oversaw the most UFC fights in 2024
