Did you know the use of “abusive language” is technically a foul under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts? It’s a point worth mentioning ahead of tonight’s UFC 196 headliner.

After all, when featherweight champion Conor McGregor (19-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) meets lightweight Nate Diaz (18-10 MMA, 13-8 UFC) in the welterweight pay-per-view main event, the language is expected to be, well, quite colorful.

So how will veteran referee Herb Dean, who officiates tonight’s bout at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena, enforce a rule that could be interpreted any number of ways? As he told MMMAjunkie Radio, expect each trash-talker to get a long leash.

“I generally choose to let people talk trash,” said Dean, a five-time World MMA Award winner as best ref. “I think it’s fine. But actually, there is a rule. There is a rule that says no abusive language in the cage.

“So yeah, that leaves a lot to my discretion. If somebody … says ‘(expletive) you’ to somebody, people will get offended by it. I mean, we’re watching people kick each other in the face, but we can’t say ‘(expletive) you’ every now and then?”

The insults and profanity haven’t been in short supply in the buildup to the fight (listen to some of the barbs from Friday’s weigh-ins above). USA TODAY’s Martin Rogers even penned a column on the role cursing has played in this fight and the UFC as a whole.

Dean, though, would rather focus on the fighting and let the occasional insult or profanity fly.

“I just don’t have a problem with it,” he said.

However, that’s not to say he’s going to completely ignore the rule. While officiating a past bout on the regional circuit, Dean let one fighter continue his trash-talk, and looking back, he wishes he would’ve stepped in and enforced the rule.

“One time that crossed a line with me was I refereed a fight, and the guy had a guy in a position to ground and pound, and like the whole time, he was saying, ‘Show me your face, bitch. Yeah, bitch. You like that? Don’t you hide from me,'” Dean said. “And it was abusive. It made me feel uncomfortable. It was like a weapon. I felt like, man, this guy is going to need therapy after this.

“And I forgot about the rule. I didn’t really enforce the rule. But if I think if I were to do it again, I would I’ve enforced that. I wouldn’t have let him talk to him like that.”

For more on UFC 196, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show, available on SiriusXM Ch. 93, is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia and producer Brian “Goze” Garcia. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.