Last month it was revealed that veteran MMA referee Josh Rosenthal plead guilty to federal drug trafficking charges earlier this year. Rosenthal was due to be sentenced today at a U.S District Court in Oakland, California, a change from the originally reported May 17th. Yesterday it was confirmed through court documents that Rosenthal's sentencing date has once again been moved, this time to July 2nd at 9 AM local time (12 PM ET). Rosenthal could've been sentenced in February, but the hearing was pushed to April while he recovered from a staph infection. This is just the latest re-scheduling of his next court appearance, although none of the recent changes has been health-related.

In 2012, federal agents had raided an Oakland warehouse owned by Rosenthal and his associate Jeffrey Weller, and found more than 1300 marijuana plants in the facility; the estimated street value of the plants was $6 million. Rosenthal was arrested in October and plead guilty this past January. Weller also put in a guilty plea and is currently awaiting his sentence on June 11th. While the final say on Rosenthal's fate is up to the court, the government recommends 37 months in prison and 5 years probation. Without a plea deal he could've faced between 10 years and life behind bars plus $10 million in fines.

Rosenthal has not refereed a UFC event since an FX show in Minnesota last October. He has since let his Nevada and California licenses lapse, but he was in Utah last week to referee his first MMA event of the year. This clip below (complete with some of the worst announcers you'll ever hear) is from Showdown Fights 11 on May 10th, with Rosenthal officiating the main event between former UFC lightweight Justin Buchholz and Gordon Bell.



