Herb Dean News

Chris Taylor - March 6, 2022

Jorge Masvidal was not happy with the work done by referee Herb Dean in last night’s UFC 272 main event. Masvidal (35-16 MMA) squared off with his former friend turned bitter rival Colby Covington (17-3 MMA) in the headliner of last night’s pay-per-view event in Las Vegas.

Adam D Martin - November 2, 2021

Former UFC commentator Dan Hardy recalled the Herb Dean incident on Fight Island, saying that “we had a back and forth conversation.” On Fight Island in July 2020, there was a lightweight bout between Francisco Trinaldo and Jai Herbert that had a very controversial ending. Trinaldo landed a massive punch on Herbert that appeared to knock him out, but Dean did not wave off the fight and allowed Trinaldo to land extra punches on the ground despite his opponent being knocked out. Hardy, who was working as the UFC commentator that night, got into a verbal altercation with Dean. Some believe this incident is the reason why the UFC let go of Hardy.

Adam D Martin - October 5, 2021

MMA referee Herb Dean explained why he did not stop the recent Brian Ortega vs. Alexander Volkanovski featherweight title fight at UFC 266. During the Ortega vs. Volkanovski fight, Ortega appeared to have trouble making it to his stool, and he also appeared to have vision issues. However, Dean let the fight continue. Speaking to Helen Yee in a recent interview, Dean defended not stopping the fight.

Harry Kettle - May 4, 2021

UFC referee Herb Dean has given his thoughts on the controversial ending to Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling back at UFC 259. In their UFC Bantamweight Championship clash, it appeared as if Yan was well on his way to successfully retaining his title. However, after he threw an illegal knee at a downed opponent, Sterling was able to leave the UFC APEX as champion through a disqualification victory.

Cole Shelton - March 25, 2021

Dan Hardy doesn’t understand why Herb Dean is considered the gold standard of MMA referees. Dean is often the man in charge of UFC main events, however, Hardy believes he is constantly making mistakes. The two haven’t gotten along since their Fight Island incident last summer where Hardy was seen yelling to stop the fight when Francisco Trinaldo was landing heavy punches against Jai Herbert.

Adam D Martin - March 16, 2021

UFC executive Marc Ratner said that referee Herb Dean felt that middleweight Darren Stewart baited Eryk Anders into throwing an illegal knee. Anders was hurting Stewart up against the fence with punches and looked to be on his way to a win, but when Stewart went to the mat and took a knee, Anders nailed him in the head with an illegal knee and the fight was stopped. Dean declared the foul unintentional and thus the fight was ruled a No Contest. The fact Dean called it a No Contest instead of a DQ, which Petr Yan was hit with by referee Mark Smith when he nailed Aljamain Sterling in the head, left some fans who were watching take to social media to share their confusion on why one of these fights was a No Contest and why the other was a disqualification.

Cole Shelton - February 22, 2021

John McCarthy has assessed Herb Dean’s performance at UFC Vegas 19. In the main event of the card, Dean was the third man in the Octagon for Derrick Lewis vs Curtis Blaydes. In the early going, Dean was doing a solid job monitoring the eye pokes. Yet, as Lewis landed the KO punch, “The Black Beast” followed it up with some more shots. He said it was Herb Dean’s fault, but John McCarthy believes Dean did everything he was supposed to.

Harry Kettle - January 26, 2021

UFC commentator Dan Hardy has revived his “feud” with Herb Dean over his stoppage in the Amanda Ribas fight at UFC 257. Ribas was beaten by Marina Rodriguez this past weekend through a string of vicious attacks, but after a moment of hesitation, the aforementioned Herb Dean allowed the fight to go on for a few seconds longer – which caused Ribas to sustain even more damage from Rodriguez.

Christopher Taylor - July 26, 2020

John McCarthy has shared his thoughts on referee Herb Dean’s controversial stoppage in Saturday’s Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert fight. The lightweight contest, which served as the featured prelim of UFC Fight Island 3, was called off shortly after Trinaldo landed a hard punch that sent Herbert crashing to the canvas.

Adam Martin - July 26, 2020

Veteran MMA referee Herb Dean defended the controversial stoppage in the Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert fight and criticized Dan Hardy for his comments. Trinaldo dropped Herbert with an overhand left in the third round of their catchweight bout on the UFC Fight Island 3 preliminary card. Herbert fell to the mat and Trinaldo appeared to hesitate to throw strikes on the mat at his fallen foe, recognizing he was knocked out. However, Dean didn’t stop the fight right away and needed Trinaldo to land a few nasty punches on the ground before he stepped in and stopped the contest.

Tom Taylor - July 26, 2020

The UFC will investigate an on-air confrontation between referee Herb Dean and commentator Dan Hardy, which occured at UFC Fight Island 3 on Saturday. The controversy occurred in a lightweight contest between Francisco Trinaldo and Jai Herbert. In the third round, Trinaldo leveled Herbert with an overhand left. The impact clearly left Herbert unconcious, but Dean neglected to stop the action, leaving Trinaldo to land two additional and concussive strikes.

Tom Taylor - July 26, 2020

UFC commentator Dan Hardy was livid about a UFC Fight Island 3 officiating blunder from referee Herb Dean, and he wasn’t afraid to show it. The controversy occurred in a lightweight contest between Francisco Trinaldo and Jai Herbert. In the third round, Trinaldo leveled Herbert with an overhand left. The impact clearly left Herbert unconcious, but Dean neglected to stop the action, leaving Trinaldo to land two additional and concussive strikes.

Tom Taylor - April 11, 2019

One of the most anticipated features of the UFC 235 bill was a welterweight showdown between former UFC champ Robbie Lawler and former ONE and Bellator champ Ben Askren. Regrettably, this bout ended in controversy. Mid-way through the first round, Askren locked up a bulldog choke that appeared to lull Lawler to sleep. After referee Herb Dean stopped the action, however, Lawler protested, and the replay revealed that he might not have actually gone out.

Cole Shelton - March 19, 2019

At UFC 235, Ben Askren made his highly-anticipated debut, when he took on Robbie Lawler. Askren, who is undefeated, was looking to show he is the best in the world. However, early on, ‘Funky’ was in a lot of trouble when Lawler slammed him on his head.

Tom Taylor - March 6, 2019

At UFC 235, former UFC welterweight champ Robbie Lawler was tasked with welcoming former ONE and Bellator champ Ben Askren to the Octagon. In the opening seconds of the first round it looked as though Lawler would spoil Askren’s debut, as he executed a beautiful slam and nearly finished the wrestler with a storm of ground strikes. Miraculously, however, Askren was able to weather this storm and lock up a bulldog choke for the victory.

Tom Taylor - September 19, 2018

Last Saturday, on the UFC Moscow card, middleweight veteran CB Dollaway stepped into the cage with Russia’s Khalid Murtazaliev. The fight got tremendously ugly for the American. Toward the end of round two, CB Dollaway found himself in bottom position, absorbing a meteor shower of ground strikes unleashed by Murtazaliev. Before long, it became clear that Dollaway was in danger, as he absorbed repeated blows to the head, and failed to adequately defend himself. Despite this grim scene, referee Herb Dean did not stop the fight. Instead, he let the round end, at which point an exhausted, barely-conscious CB Dollaway essentially had to peeled off the canvas.

bjpenndotcom - May 16, 2017

Saturday night in the preliminary card main event of UFC 211, former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez stepped into the Octagon against streaking lightweight Dustin Poirier for a highly anticipated showdown. Dustin Poirier began to land early, stunning Alvarez with hard shots throughout the first round before ultimately then rocking Alvarez in the second. Miraculously, Alvarez survived the brutal onslaught, and even managed to flip the script as he rocked Porier in the second. This unfortunately led to a sequence of events that saw a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate cut short as Alvarez unintentionally landed several illegal knees that dropped Poirier, who was deemed a ‘grounded fighter’ at the time of the knees.

Chris Taylor - April 10, 2017

Herb Dean gives his expert opinion on the Gegard Mousasi vs. Chris Weidman stoppage Surging UFC middleweight contender Gegard Mousasi scored a controversial second-round TKO victory over former division champion Chris Weidman at this past weekend’s UFC 210 event in Buffalo, New York.