While Herb Dean is one of the most experienced referees in the game today, he has had more than a few questionable calls over the last several months. After his most recent fumble at UFC Vegas 42, Dana White had some words for him.
White has largely defended Dean over the years, even threatening to fire Dan Hardy for getting into an argument with the referee during a broadcast. However, it seems that even the UFC President is starting to get tired of the veteran referee’s tendency to not commit to stopping a fight.
This was seen in the UFC Vegas 42 co-main event, where Dean stepped in to stop the fight between Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Ben Rothwell, even wrapping his arm around the waist of de Lima to pull him off of a battered Rothwell, only to hesitate. Speaking to media after the event, White tore into Herb for touching the fighters without fully stopping the fight.
“Herb needs to stop touching guys unless the fight’s over,” White said at the UFC Vegas 42 post-fight press conference on Saturday. “He goes in and grabs him by the waists, and decides, oops, maybe I . … The good thing about this was, the fight should have been stopped when he stopped it. You didn’t see Ben jumping up and arguing about it,” White said (h/t MMAFighting).
“He’s gotta pull the trigger and stop touching guys – don’t touch them unless you’re going to stop the fight,” the UFC exec said. “When they played it back in slow motion, he’s kind of like, dancing, like he doesn’t know what to do, whether he’s going to jump in or not jump in. I like him personally – he’s a nice guy. But he’s got to stop touching people until he’s ready to stop the fight.”
Dan Hardy Sides With Dana White
Given the fact that he was reprimanded for speaking out against Herb Dean, it comes as little surprise to hear that Dan Hardy had some things to stay about the stoppage at UFC Vegas 42. With a pair of tweets, he ripped into the referee, saying that he was old and a liability to the fighters, Dana White, and the UFC.
“This dude is a liability… 😂🤦🏻♂️” Hardy wrote, before adding “G…Old standard.”
This dude is a liability… 😂🤦🏻♂️#UFCVegas42
— Dan Hardy (@danhardymma) November 13, 2021
G…Old standard.
— Dan Hardy (@danhardymma) November 13, 2021
To be fair to Herb Dean, refereeing is an incredibly tough job to do. However, like Dana White said, if you are going to start stepping in to stop a fight, you have to commit to it, for the safety of the athletes and for clarity in the sport.
