Herb Dean hasn’t had a great year.
This year, the veteran referee has been criticized very publicly by some high-profile figures in the sport. Additionally, Dean has been publicly outed and mercilessly mocked on social media.
The latest incident to backfire on Dean occurred at UFC 332 this past weekend. On the main card, Dean refereed a fight between King Green and Esteban Ribovics. In that fight, Ribovics quickly penetrated Green’s guard and jerking movement and dropped his opponent repeatedly before Dean broke up the fight. Green immediately protested the stoppage and seemed quite aware.
Personally, watching live, the stoppage seemed justified as Green looked set to punish the faster Ribovics. It looks like some people are going to use this case as another reason to take down Dean.
Henry Cejudo is in that camp.
The former UFC flyweight and bantamweight champion spoke about Green’s layoff Pound 4 pounds podcast, a show he hosts with former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.
“That guy was just — damn, man,” Cejudo muttered (h/t MMA fight). “It’s ridiculous. I think it’s ridiculous that the Nevada State Athletic Commission even has a job. Nobody likes this guy anymore. Nobody! They’re showing him on camera, he’s getting booed. It’s ridiculous. No accountability. It’s a blatant mafia.”
Usman defended the stoppage, but Cejudo was unwilling to let Dean completely off the hook. Cejudo also referred to the recent Contender Series fight where Ian Escuza landed an illegal knee on the ground Luca Borando on the way TKO win. Dean watched footage of the foul in that incident but did not penalize Escusa and thus let his win stand.
“I’m not that mad about it,” Cejudo said, referring to Green’s layoff. “Maybe I’ll just pick Herb Dean, but for the last time, last week Contender serieswhere this dude kneels to the devil’s head and this guy has no balls. You should have stopped it when he knelt down. This fight would have been a No Contest and this guy wouldn’t have gotten it. Poatan – It’s just endless dude. I think he just needs to take a break from fighting. That’s all. He needs to step aside.”
Cejudo also referenced Dean’s performance at UFC Freedom 250, where he headlined Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira in the co-main event. Gane won by TKO that night, earning the interim heavyweight title.
Dana White and the UFC say they have no control over who gets refereeing duties, as it is up to the various sports commissions. Still, I wonder what Mario Yamasaki and Steve Mazzagatti have to say about it?
