Professional Referee & Judge · All Combat Sports · Fighter Safety First

Every great fight has a third man in the cage.

Freedom Combat Authority is the officiating home of Brandon Anderson, a commission-licensed referee and judge for MMA, boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, and bare-knuckle, working cards across the Midwest and beyond. Book him for either chair. If your date is open, let's talk before it isn't.

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The first fight in the cage was his own.

Senior year of high school, 2011. Seventeen years old, Brandon Anderson took his first MMA fight. Nothing about it was polished, but standing in that cage taught him something no seminar can: what it costs a fighter to be in there, and what a fighter is owed by the people running the bout.

Fighting gave him the respect. Officiating became the craft. The road went the only way it goes in this sport: training, certification, and shadowing under veteran officials, card after card, earning trust one assignment at a time. It started in Missouri, and it started with people who didn't have to open doors but did.

Tim Lueckenhoff, his commissioner and mentor, gets the first thank-you, along with a long list of officials and commission staff who invested in a young referee. A lot of people never get the opportunities Brandon's been given. He knows it, and he tries to pay it forward on every card.

"I don't have it all figured out, and I never will. The goal is the same every card: protect the fighters, get the calls right, and be better than I was last time out."

In the cage during a professional bout

In the cage, where the standard gets enforced

How this world actually works

Most fans have no idea how an official ends up in the cage on fight night. Here's the honest version, because understanding it is understanding why the standard matters.

01

Officials Work for the Commission

Referees don't work for promotions. They work for the regulators who oversee each event: state athletic commissions and tribal commissions in the U.S., provincial commissions in Canada, and national federations and regulatory bodies everywhere else the sport travels. The commission appoints the officials, the promotion runs the show, and the official answers to the fighters' safety and nothing else. That independence is the whole point.

  • State Commissions
  • Tribal Commissions
  • Regulators Worldwide
  • Independent by Design
02

One Rulebook Above It All

Most commissions operate under the supervision of the Association of Boxing Commissions, the body where the unified rules and regulations live. It's what keeps a fight officiated in one state the same way as a fight three states over.

  • Association of Boxing Commissions
  • Unified Rules
  • Consistency State to State
03

The Path In Is Earned, Not Bought

Coming up as an official? Reach out and Brandon will point you in the right direction.

  • Certification Courses
  • Shadowing
  • Per State · Per Discipline
  • Earned Assignments
04

Licensed Where It Counts

Every state is a separate license and every discipline is its own certification. Brandon started in Missouri and today works for several Midwest commissions, ever expanding. That includes certification in bare-knuckle, which only some states sanction and few officials carry.

  • Started in Missouri
  • Multiple Midwest States
  • Bare-Knuckle Certified
  • Amateur & Pro
Brandon Anderson, professional combat sports official

Brandon Anderson · Founder, Freedom Combat Authority

The man in black and white.

Brandon Anderson is a professional combat sports referee and licensed judge who has worked his way from regional amateur cards to the sport's biggest stages, the only way it's done in this world: earn the assignment, execute the standard, get invited back. Book him as the third man in the cage or at the scorer's table.

U.S. Army veteran. A former fighter who trained in Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Commando Krav Maga, went through Army combatives, and competed in All-Army combatives tournaments. He knows what it feels like on the other side of the referee, and on fight night he's the third man in the cage: there to protect the fighter who can't protect himself and hand the winner a result nobody can argue with.

Outside the cage he's the founder and CEO of the Prestige Freedom Ventures family of companies and the Eagle Revolution family of companies. Running businesses built on accountability is the same job as running a cage: hold the standard when it's easy and especially when it isn't.

He'll be the first to tell you he doesn't know everything. He asks for coaching after cards, reviews his own tape, and leans on mentors who've seen more than he has, because in this job the day you stop getting better, fighters pay for it.

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Professional referee: MMA, boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai & bare-knuckle, amateur through pro

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Licensed judge, available for the scorer's table in all combat sports

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Certified bare-knuckle official, a credential few referees hold

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Licensed with several Midwest commissions, ever expanding

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Started in Missouri under Commissioner Tim Lueckenhoff

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Former MMA fighter · Brazilian jiu-jitsu · Commando Krav Maga · Army combatives & All-Army combatives tournaments

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U.S. Army veteran · Founder & CEO of the Prestige Freedom Ventures & Eagle Revolution families of companies

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Dad of three

The home team.

Dad of three. Every card worked and every standard held comes home to these three at the end of the night. They're the reason the job gets done right.

The calendar.

Fight season doesn't slow down. Here's where things stand. If your date is open, reach out before it isn't.

Booked dates are commission assignments and stay confidential until the card is announced. Most commissions book the way they always have: an email asking "can you work this show on this date?" That works here too. Send the date and you'll hear back directly, not from a booking service.

Email Me a DatePrefer a Call? Book 30 Minutes

Non-negotiables

Three things every card gets, regardless of the size of the show.

Fighter Safety First

The stoppage comes when the fighter needs it, not when the crowd wants it. That line gets held every bout, every card.

The Rules, Evenly

Unified rules applied the same for the hometown favorite and the opponent bussed in that morning. Consistency is what makes a result mean something.

Always a Student

Tape review after every card. Coaching asked for, not waited on. Mentors on speed dial. The craft is never finished, and officials who think otherwise are the ones who miss the stoppage.

Put the third man on your card.

Send the date, venue, and card size, and you'll get a direct answer from Brandon, not a booking portal. Officials coming up in the sport: mentorship, tape review, and guidance on the path in are always on the table. And if enough officials want a room to sharpen each other, a networking mastermind is in the works. Just ask.

banderson@freedomcombatauthority.com

Booking an event? Have this ready:

  • Event date & venue
  • Role needed — referee / judge / both
  • Discipline — MMA / boxing / kickboxing / bare-knuckle
  • Card size & amateur-pro split
  • Sanctioning body / commission status
  • Coming up as an official? Say so — mentorship welcome
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