Herb Dean has been with the UFC for almost two decades now and he is considered to be the gold standard when it comes to referees in MMA. In this article, we will take a look at Herb Dean’s net worth in 2021.

Net Worth$2.5 million
Age51
Salary$500,000 per year
SponsorsBubs Naturals
ProfessionMMA Referee

Herb Dean’s Net Worth in 2021 (estimate): $2.5 million

Herb Dean's net worth, Herb Dean

Herb Dean’s net worth in 2021 is $2.5 million. This is according to numerous reputable outlets, including Celebrity Net Worth,

Before becoming one of the best referees in the field of mixed martial arts, Herb Dean was also a fighter. He started training when he was nine years old and continued to train in various disciplines throughout his teenage years.

Dean trained with Frank Trejo and eventually expanded his skillset when he included Jiu-Jutsu and Judo in his training regimen. He eventually became a second Dan Black Belter in Jiu-Jutsu.

He then met former referee and fighter Larry Landless who introduced him to mixed martial arts training at Submission Factory in Los Angeles.

Herb Dean made his professional debut on September 9, 2001, on Gladiator Challenge 6 where he fought Randy Halmot. He won via submission in just 43 seconds in the first round. On January 18, 2003, he failed to win against Joe Riggs at Rage in the Cage 43: The Match as he lost his second professional fight by submission.

Dean picked up the second, and final, win of his career during KOTC 39: Hitmaster on August 6, 2004, when he defeated Timothy Mendoza via TKO in the 2nd round.

In his last two MMA fights, he lost to Jung Gyu Choi at Spirit MC 9 and Dave Legeno at Cage Rage 22, respectively.

As an MMA referee, Herb Dean has overseen more than 3500 MMA fights. And one of his best moments came in his first UFC championship match between Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir at UFC 48. He quickly stepped in and stopped the fight when he witnessed Sylvia’s forearm snap in half due to an armbar.

Despite initial confusion from the commentators and boos from the crown, Dean was later vindicated when the replay was shown on the jumbotron indeed showed what he saw that led to him stopping the match.

One of the most controversial matches that he refereed was the highly-anticipated rematch between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock at UFC 61. With just 1:18 in the 1st round, Dean stepped in and stopped the fight after consecutive unanswered strikes and elbows to the head by Ortiz to Shamrock, giving Ortiz the TKO win.

Dean’s decision was criticized by many as premature. So, a third fight was held, but Dean was not chosen to usher the fight. The match ended virtually the same way as Ortiz won via TKO in the first round again.

After UFC 109 at Las Vegas, UFC President Dana White heaped praise on Herb Dean and his refereeing.

“Herb Dean is one of the best referees in this business. Actually, I think he's the best.” White said.

“If you had to do a highlight reel of great stoppages, incredible stoppages, the entire highlight reel would be Herb Dean.”

Despite praises from multiple MMA personalities, Herb Dean is still not safe from criticisms when he makes a mistake.

Most recently, Dana White criticized his indecisiveness to stop the fight between Ben Rothwell and Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC Vegas 42.

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He was also involved in a shouting match with former fighter and now UFC commentator Dan Hardy after a fight at UFC 267.

Herb Dean is well-known for his keen judgement inside the octagon and the MMA ring. He is also known to ensure the safety of every fighter and his ability to stop the match before the fighters suffer an even more gruesome injury.

Due to his skill set and innate decision making, Herb Dean has won the Fighters Only Magazine’s World MMA Awards Referee of the year seven times, from 2010 to 2014 and 2018 to 2019. He was beaten for three straight years by John McCarthy from 2015 to 2017.

He was also praised by multiple sports publications such as ESPN, Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, SB Nation, and Fightland to be the gold standard for MMA referees.

Herb Dean also offers official MMA certification courses to aspiring MMA referees and judges. The courses include lectures, written tests, judging guidelines, scoring criteria, and many more.

He also has a reported salary of $500,000 per year through his work as a referee with different MMA brands.

At 51 years old, Herb Dean is not likely to retire any time soon as he is still the premier referee in mixed martial arts.