Herb Dean has been under fire now from the MMA community after Joe Rogan highlighted that Dean’s interference at the Jamahal Hill vs Alex Pereira fight might have acted as a catalyst for the light heavyweight champion to defend his belt successfully. It was a serious lapse of refereeing, however, considering Dean’s experience as a referee, Rogan’s stance seemed baseless until the UFC fight night.
During the Bogdan Guskov vs. Ryan Spann fight, Herb Dean’s massive flaw in refereeing could have cost Spann his life. Their fight started with Guskov having a rough start against the light heavyweight, however, things turned around in the second round when Spann took Guskov to the ground to pound him but the Uzbek fighter turned the flow against Spann.
Guskov defended his position and took Spann into a spiral as he dropped the American to the canvas and threw twelve heavy shots at his face thus knocking him down to clinch the victory. The Uzbek fighter has now 14 knockdown victories in his 16 career fights but Spann is now riding a three-fight losing streak for the first time in his career.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
The win was flawless, however, the refereeing was not. Herb Dean should have halted the match as soon as Guskov threw the first five shots but waited till Spann was unconscious.The referee’s irresponsible behavior got the MMA community’s attention and called out the referee for being biased
Herb Dean’s late stoppage for fiery response from the MMA community
Herb Dean was already under the fire of Joe Rogan who accused him of pausing the match for a brief moment at UFC 303 which gave Pereira the opportunity to clinch the victory and now the MMA community is accusing the referee of not halting the match thus risking the life of Ryan Spann. Fans flooded to internet to have their respective opinion. Some of the reactions by the fans are as follows:-
Starting off, a prominent MMA journalist saw the gap between the fighters and said that Dean should have paused the match way earlier.
That was not a good showing for Herb Dean.
Let that go on way too long and the position reset (or lack thereof) was even worse.
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) April 28, 2024
Taking 10 unanswered beats and that to the head is something that no fighter wants in his lifetime. This could seriously hamper the skull. A fan stated that Herb Dean’s response was so slow and he should be held answerable.
Herb Dean is genuinely the worst ref. Totally indecisive. Just let Spann take at least 10 unnecessary undefended full power punches of his unconscious head into the canvas. To make matters worse he then steps on Stann to finally stop the beating. Hardy was right. #UFCVegas91
— Mr Natterjacks (@MrNatterjack) April 28, 2024
Adding a bit of a humor to the tense situation, a fan shared a gif and stated that Dean might want someone to get killed.
Herb Dean is genuinely the worst ref. Totally indecisive. Just let Spann take at least 10 unnecessary undefended full power punches of his unconscious head into the canvas. To make matters worse he then steps on Stann to finally stop the beating. Hardy was right. #UFCVegas91
— Mr Natterjacks (@MrNatterjack) April 28, 2024
Furthermore, another fan said the same thing.
Herb Dean been needing to see dudes go unconscious tonight. #ufc
— B-Low (@B_Low_) April 28, 2024
Back-to-back lapses in refereeing by Herb Dean might have some bad effect on him and a fan reckons he might be on his way out of the fight business.
Herb Dean’s on his way out I reckon – used to be the best in the world on any given day and now we get at least seriously questionable call per card
— Dizzle (@dazcummy) April 28, 2024
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Last but not the least, another MMA journalist took the helm to state that the shots were so slow that it could have been stopped earlier but Dean took his time to save Spann and this is a serious lapse of integrity.
That was a bad stoppage by Herb Dean. Spann took 12 unanswered shots by Guskov.
But probably the worst part was Dominick Cruz counting the 12 shots on slowmo and saying, “Look, Spann is still here. We deserve this chance to try to get up.”
How do you justify that? #UFCVegas91
— Danny Segura (@dannyseguratv) April 28, 2024
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
It must be noted from the reactions of the fans that they are not happy with the way Herb Dean acted and called him out for his behavior. Nonetheless, whats your take on the situation? State your thoughts in the comments below.