Alex Pereira once again took a shot at Herb Dean following UFC Baku, but this time, Tom Aspinall shares the same sentiment.
UFC made its return to Azerbaijan this past Saturday. Rafael Fiziev took center stage and scored a second-round knockout finish over Manuel Torres to send the crowd home happy. Prior to the UFC Baku headliner, there was a middleweight battle between Sharabutdin Magomedov and Michel Pereira. Veteran referee Herb Dean was officiating the bout, and he found himself under heavy scrutiny for how he handled Shara “Bullet’s” infractions.
During the bout, Magomedov grabbed a hold of Pereira’s hair, and Dean was late on halting the action to deliver a warning. Dean even told Magomedov through a translator that he needed to stop “breaking the rules.” Magomedov later poked Pereira in the eye, but Dean failed to deduct a point.
Pereira was well aware of what transpired, and he took to social media to label Dean a “coward” for not holding Magomedov accountable. Aspinall, the reigning UFC Heavyweight Champion, agreed with “Poatan” calling out Dean and offered some criticism of his own.
“MMA doesn’t have ‘rules’ anymore,” Aspinall wrote. “It’s just ‘suggestions.’”
Pereira had already been critical of Dean due to his officiating during the UFC Freedom 250 co-main event. The Brazilian bruiser faced Ciryl Gane with the interim UFC Heavyweight Championship at stake. Pereira lost the fight via second-round TKO, but he took issue with Dean allowing Gane to land several strikes to the back of the head.
Dean defended himself in a video posted on social media, but “Poatan” didn’t want to hear any of it. He’s even called for the longtime official to be removed from his job. Pereira plans to tell athletic commissions to avoid having Dean referee his fights moving forward.
What do you make of the latest criticism of Herb Dean following UFC Baku? Has his officiating become a significant issue, or do you think it’s overblown? Drop your opinion in the comments below.
