UFC Ref Responds After Being Caught 'Checking Out' Cage Girl

An MMA referee has responded on social media after being accused of 'checking out' a UFC Octagon girl.

The UFC returned to Canada last weekend as the famed Octagon set up shop in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In the main-event, Brendan Allen stunned top contender Reinier de Ridder, who failed to come out for the final round of their UFC middleweight title eliminator.

Elsewhere on the card, Canadians Mike Malott and Aiemann Zahabi picked up big wins over Kevin Holland and Marlon Vera respectively.

But the night in Canada was marred by some rather odd officiating as Dan Miragliotta completely botched Kyle Nelson's stoppage of Matt Frevola and failed to sanction Malott's repeated low blows to Holland.

Fellow referee Jason Herzog managed to avoid any controversy as he handled the main-event clash between De Ridder vs. Allen, not to mention the main-card bouts between Charles Jourdain vs. Davey Grant and Aiemann Zahabi vs. Marlon Vera.

But Herzog did get MMA fans online talking after he was caught 'checking out' Octagon girl Jhenny Andrade in between rounds.

MMA referee Jason Herzog seemed to check out Jhenny Andrade. Image: Getty

An image of Herzog appearing to check out Jhenny quickly went viral on social media.

Herzog caught wind of the post and reacted, quote-tweeting it with a saluting face emoji.

Who is Jhenny Andrade?

Jhenny, 37, was born in Brazil and has been an Octagon girl for the UFC since 2013.

She grew up in a family of athletes, with her father introducing her to Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) at the age of five.

By her teens, she was already a black belt in BJJ and competed in martial arts tournament while juggling a career as a singer and television presenter.

She soon became a model, winning titles, including Miss Brazil World.

Jhenny Andrade in a long-time UFC Octagon girl. Image: Getty

Jhenny caught the eye of UFC officials who promptly signed her to the company.

She has since been named UFC Ring Girl of the Year on three occasions.

Jhenny, who has an estimated net worth of $1 million, has amassed an impressive 1 million followers on Instagram, with her feed consisting of snapshots of her working at UFC events as well as clips of her presenting.