Lesnar vs. Carwin is Not Going to Mazzagati—It's Going to Josh

That's right. You read the headline correctly.

This morning it was made public , and it's likely to be made official if it hasn't been already:

Steve Mazzagati, one of the referees seen in the UFC...

...Mr. "Bring it on, come on!" himself...

...the man who called Brock Lesnar's UFC debut fight...

...absolutely, positively, make-no-bones-about-it...

...will NOT be handling the UFC Heavyweight Champ's second title defense on Independence Day weekend against Shane Carwin.

Instead, Josh Rosenthal—who some might call one of the UFC's best referees besides Herb Dean and Mario Yamasaki—will be the authority in the cage when Brock returns to the Octagon next month.

Sounds all well and good, but why Rosenthal?

Let a member of Team Lesnar tell you.

They've been trying to tell you and me about Mazzagati since Lesnar's debut against Frank Mir, which as I recall, didn't go too well for the former WWE Champion.

My estimation on why "No Mazz" is that Brock's views on Mazzagati's officiating during his fight influenced Brock to try and see if any other ref could officiate his fights.

Lesnar even pointed out a spot or two in which Mazzagati was questionable when the Countdown to UFC 100 aired last July.

Could it be that Mazzagati is really the terrible ref everyone makes him out to be, or are people calling him a bad ref because Brock Lesnar called his officiating bad?

I don't know, but Rosenthal isn't a bad choice for a ref if you really don't want Mazzagatti to do it.

Aside from Herb Dean and Mario Yamasaki, Rosenthal is actually a good ref in my eyes.

He doesn't call a fight over by knockout unless he's sure that someone is out, he doesn't call a submission until he sees someone tap out or fall unconscious from passing out, and he doesn't ignore it when someone hits in the back of the head or in the junk.

This is true of Herb Dean and Yamasaki, but apparently there was something about Rosenthal that caught someone's attention.

Either that, or neither Yamasaki nor Dean were able to do the fight, though I fail to see why that would be the case.

In any event, Brock Lesnar has one thing to smile about:

Regardless of whether he retains the belt or not, at least he won't have to look at Steve Mazzagatti's face before the final decision.