Herb Dean’s heard all the talk about his decision to stop the UFC 207 main event between Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes.
And he’s heard enough.
The veteran official responded to actor…
Herb Dean’s heard all the talk about his decision to stop the UFC 207 main event between Ronda Rousey and Amanda Nunes.
And he’s heard enough.
The veteran official responded to actor Michael Rapaport and others who believe he called off the Nunes-Rousey fight too soon recently in an interview with TMZ Sports. As he’s done in the past, Dean states that he knows the rules and has always given fighters the “benefit of the doubt” to show that they are still coherent and competing.
Rapaport was on a recent edition of “Undisputed” on FOX Sports 1 discussing the fight when he brought up Dean.
Hear the official on his decision to signal for the bell after 48 seconds in the video above.
The third person in the ring for each of the two UFC Bantamweight Championship fights at UFC 207 was determined at today’s Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting in Las Vegas. The same goes for the judges at cage side who will determine the winners if either bout goes the distance. Here are the official assignments per MMAJunkie:
UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship: Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Ronda Rousey
Referee: Herb Dean
Judges: Adalaide Byrd, Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee
UFC Men’s Bantamweight Championship Dominick Cruz (c) vs. Cody Garbrandt
Referee: John McCarthy
Judges: Derek Cleary, Jeff Mullen and Tony Weeks
Of Ronda Rousey’s professional fights, Herb Dean had previously refereed her title first defense, where she fought Sarah Kaufman (first round submission win), her third UFC title defense, against Sara McMann (first round body shot TKO win), and her title loss to Holly Holm (second round TKO). Aside from the head kick knockout itself, possibly the most memorable visual of the Holm fight was Dean clutching Rousey as she screamed “NO!!” when she realized she lost her title. The McMann fight is also notable for being considered an early stoppage in some circles. Dean dead also officiated four of Nunes’ fights, but there was nothing particularly memorable about the officiating.
Barring a regional fight with an incomplete record in the Fight Finder, John McCarthy has never refereed a Dominick Cruz bout before. McCarthy was in the cage for Garbrandt’s last two fights though, showing excellent judgment in when he called the stoppage for “No Love’s” knockout wins.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t3dCCiIuNzg
The third person in the ring for each of the two UFC Bantamweight Championship fights at UFC 207 was determined at today’s Nevada State Athletic Commission meeting in Las Vegas. The same goes for the judges at cage side who will determine the winners if either bout goes the distance. Here are the official assignments per MMAJunkie:
UFC Women’s Bantamweight Championship: Amanda Nunes (c) vs. Ronda Rousey
Referee: Herb Dean
Judges: Adalaide Byrd, Sal D’Amato and Chris Lee
UFC Men’s Bantamweight Championship Dominick Cruz (c) vs. Cody Garbrandt
Referee: John McCarthy
Judges: Derek Cleary, Jeff Mullen and Tony Weeks
Of Ronda Rousey’s professional fights, Herb Dean had previously refereed her title first defense, where she fought Sarah Kaufman (first round submission win), her third UFC title defense, against Sara McMann (first round body shot TKO win), and her title loss to Holly Holm (second round TKO). Aside from the head kick knockout itself, possibly the most memorable visual of the Holm fight was Dean clutching Rousey as she screamed “NO!!” when she realized she lost her title. The McMann fight is also notable for being considered an early stoppage in some circles. Dean dead also officiated four of Nunes’ fights, but there was nothing particularly memorable about the officiating.
Barring a regional fight with an incomplete record in the Fight Finder, John McCarthy has never refereed a Dominick Cruz bout before. McCarthy was in the cage for Garbrandt’s last two fights though, showing excellent judgment in when he called the stoppage for “No Love’s” knockout wins.
Yes the Uriah Hall and Derek Brunson bout took place a few days ago in Hidalgo, Texas. Yes it is Tuesday, so I’m aware of how much time had passed since then so I’m sure some of you will make it a point to let that fact be known. Nevertheless, there are still some talking points to discuss on the subject no matter how long ago the event took place. The subject that that must be discussed is the thankless job of refereeing.
Yes the Uriah Hall and Derek Brunson bout took place a few days ago in Hidalgo, Texas. Yes it is Tuesday, so I’m aware of how much time had passed since then so I’m sure some of you will make it a point to let that fact be known. Nevertheless, there are still some talking points to discuss on the subject no matter how long ago the event took place. The subject that that must be discussed is the thankless job of refereeing.
It’s one of those jobs that are extremely important to the survival and enrichment of our sport. The responsibility of referees in MMA is a simple yet complex affair. They have to ensure that fighters are performing within the confines of the rules while at the same time ensuring fighter safety. Sure, a ref can make nine great calls out of ten, but with one slip up all their good work can be undone, at least in the eyes of the fans.
This past Saturday, one the most well respected referees in the game, Herb Dean, made in the eyes of some a terrible gaff. The co-main event of UFC Fight Night 94 saw the aforementioned Hall and Brunson locked horns. Just moments into the fight Brunson landed a crushing left hand on Hall, flooring the latter. Brunson follower up with some ground and pound and the fight was soon waved off by Dean. Sounds cut and dry right. Too bad that Hall seemed to recover extremely quickly. Thus sparks the minor controversy involved in the co-main event.
There’s no reason for a fighter to take unnecessary punishment which was likely Dean’s thought process as he called the match. Unfortunately Uriah Hall appeared to have gotten his sea legs back and was ready for more. Or at least that’s the argument that Hall and others are using. The truth is that for Herb Dean and all the other referees in MMA there is a different kind of pressure at hand when overseeing fights. Where boxing has a pause in the action, MMA is a sport where for the most part combatants don’t get to take a breath. An MMA fighter must be able to battle nonstop for five minutes, but if severe enough damage is inflicted then you can bet the ref is going to have no choice but to stop things before they go too far. No pause, no restart. Once a decision is made, it must stand.
But that unfortunate rule means that potential classics could be sacrificed because of a suspect call from the referee to end things prematurely. Sure, the good news is that Uriah Hall didn’t receive unnecessary damage. But we have to take under consideration the fact that Hall prepared himself for war. While fighter safety is important, it must be said that even when a fighter received damage they must be allowed to at least have a chance to battle back. These fighters know the risk at hand with becoming a professional pugilist. With that in mind we shouldn’t look for fighters to be throughly brutalized before fights are stopped. But at the same time we must allow fighters to at least try to pull themselves back from the brink of defeat particularly when they still have some fight left in them. Refereeing is a thankless job indeed.
Do you think Herb Dean made the right call last Saturday? What other fights do you think were stopped prematurely?
Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.
During a recent Nevada Athletic Commission hearing, it was announced that veteran referee Herb Dean will serve as the third man inside the Octagon at UFC 197 when Jon Jones ch…
Excuse of the weak: it's not that I wasn't man enough to get my back off the cage, Herb Dean allowed him to do it
During a recent Nevada Athletic Commission hearing, it was announced that veteran referee Herb Dean will serve as the third man inside the Octagon at UFC 197 when Jon Jones challenges Daniel Cormier for the light heavyweight title.
While Cormier made it known that he is not a fan of Dean, “Bones” took the news as a chance to call-out his bitter rival once again.
Last January, Jones successfully defended his title against Cormier via decision. He was stripped of the belt following a legal run-in, allowing “DC” to win it vs. Anthony Johnson.
Apparently Jon Jones isn’t buying Daniel Cormier’s supposed excuses for his frustration that Herb Dean was rescheduled as the referee in their anticipated main event at April 23’s UFC 197 from Las Vegas. Cormier recently expressed frustration at the booking because he felt that Dean allowed Jones to stall up against the cage in the
Apparently Jon Jones isn’t buying Daniel Cormier’s supposed excuses for his frustration that Herb Dean was rescheduled as the referee in their anticipated main event at April 23’s UFC 197 from Las Vegas.
Cormier recently expressed frustration at the booking because he felt that Dean allowed Jones to stall up against the cage in the later rounds of their first match-up at last year’s UFC 182, but Jones has a different take on the subject.
“Bones” took to Twitter to express a wholly different point of view, noting that it was Cormier’s inability to get himself off of the cage rather than anything Dean did. Check it out:
Excuse of the weak: it’s not that I wasn’t man enough to get my back off the cage, Herb Dean allowed him to do it
Dean did receive a decent amount of criticism from fans and UFC President Dana White for not restarting the title fight when a clinch forced the action to screech to a halt in the fifth round, but he has long been one of the most respected and utilized officials in terms of UFC bouts, refereeing many high-profile title fights over the years.
Cormier doesn’t agree with him once again reffing his fight, however, and Jones obviously thinks that it was on ‘DC’ to get himself out the predicament rather than the referee.
What do you think? Should Dean have restarted the bout last year, and does Cormier really have any room to complain after he lost fair and square?
Veteran MMA referee Herb Dean spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour about the controversy stemming from this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 84 main event between Anderson Silva and Michael Bisping. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his decision not to stop the action when Michael Bisping’s mouth piece came out:
“That’s the way the mechanic works, is that you replace the mouthpiece during a lull in the action,” Dean said during an appearance on Monday’s edition The MMA Hour. “And [Bisping] signaled once, and Anderson was actually in the process of attacking him. For a lot of reasons that are pretty evident you can’t stop to replace the mouthpiece during a heated exchange, and that qualified as a heated exchange.
“If we were doing that, we’d have guys getting their bell rung, spitting out the mouthpiece to get a little extra time or sometimes you’re feeling a little tired, just spit your mouthpiece out. So obviously we can’t do that in the middle of an exchange.”
On why he didn’t stop the fight when Silva dropped Bisping with the flying knee:
“Well, [Silva] hit him with the knee and dropped him, and then he walked off and started to celebrate,” he said. “He had been dropped, but you know, in MMA we don’t stop the match just because someone gets dropped. I saw that when he fell he was not unconscious. He was facing Anderson. Anderson didn’t give him a threat to protect himself from, but — I don’t want to start playing what if, what if he attacked and whatnot — the bottom line is he didn’t attack. The round ended and, because Anderson was celebrating, there was some confusion as to what was going on.
“But I never had any confusion. I knew that I hadn’t stopped the match and that the match was going to continue.”
On Silva celebrating as if he’d won and Herb Dean’s fight to restore order:
“I wasn’t really that worried about that because, it was pandemonium and of course I can’t run around and start yelling at everyone to get out of the cage, there was just too many people,” he said. “But, what I did do is I let people know that the fight wasn’t over. And eventually, once I started expressing that it wasn’t over to the right people — the inspectors, the fighters — that order was going to be restored and we’d continue with the match.”
On Bisping’s claims that the facial damage he suffered was Dean’s fault:
“Well, I don’t know, maybe he’s not aware of the rules,” he said. “A lot of fighters, most of them real the fouls but they don’t read all the rules on the mechanics. Maybe he wasn’t aware of that. But the rule is to replace the mouthpiece during a lull in the action.”
https://youtu.be/RyppCBcbS7Q
Veteran MMA referee Herb Dean spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour about the controversy stemming from this past Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 84 main event between Anderson Silva and Michael Bisping. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On his decision not to stop the action when Michael Bisping’s mouth piece came out:
“That’s the way the mechanic works, is that you replace the mouthpiece during a lull in the action,” Dean said during an appearance on Monday’s edition The MMA Hour. “And [Bisping] signaled once, and Anderson was actually in the process of attacking him. For a lot of reasons that are pretty evident you can’t stop to replace the mouthpiece during a heated exchange, and that qualified as a heated exchange.
“If we were doing that, we’d have guys getting their bell rung, spitting out the mouthpiece to get a little extra time or sometimes you’re feeling a little tired, just spit your mouthpiece out. So obviously we can’t do that in the middle of an exchange.”
On why he didn’t stop the fight when Silva dropped Bisping with the flying knee:
“Well, [Silva] hit him with the knee and dropped him, and then he walked off and started to celebrate,” he said. “He had been dropped, but you know, in MMA we don’t stop the match just because someone gets dropped. I saw that when he fell he was not unconscious. He was facing Anderson. Anderson didn’t give him a threat to protect himself from, but — I don’t want to start playing what if, what if he attacked and whatnot — the bottom line is he didn’t attack. The round ended and, because Anderson was celebrating, there was some confusion as to what was going on.
“But I never had any confusion. I knew that I hadn’t stopped the match and that the match was going to continue.”
On Silva celebrating as if he’d won and Herb Dean’s fight to restore order:
“I wasn’t really that worried about that because, it was pandemonium and of course I can’t run around and start yelling at everyone to get out of the cage, there was just too many people,” he said. “But, what I did do is I let people know that the fight wasn’t over. And eventually, once I started expressing that it wasn’t over to the right people — the inspectors, the fighters — that order was going to be restored and we’d continue with the match.”
On Bisping’s claims that the facial damage he suffered was Dean’s fault:
“Well, I don’t know, maybe he’s not aware of the rules,” he said. “A lot of fighters, most of them real the fouls but they don’t read all the rules on the mechanics. Maybe he wasn’t aware of that. But the rule is to replace the mouthpiece during a lull in the action.”
