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Herb Dean

Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling trashed longtime MMA official Herb Dean, whom he called an “awful referee.”

Dean was involved in a very controversial fight this past weekend at MVP MMA: Rousey vs. Carano. In a closely-contested fight between Sterling’s teammate Phumi Nkuta and Adriano Moraes that came down to the wire, Dean ruled that a last-second submission attempt by Moraes was legal, despite him holding onto the choke too long. Dean ruled that Nkuta was out before the final bell rang, and he raised Moraes’ hand for the submission win at 4:59 of the third round.

According to the scorecards, Nkuta would have won a split decision if the fight had gone the distance, so the fact that he lost with one second left on the clock due to a controversial submission was a tough blow to the formerly undefeated prospect. When Moraes was awarded the victory by submission, many fans, media, and fighters were upset that Nkuta lost the bout, as Moraes clearly held onto the choke too long. But Dean is confident that the fighter went to sleep before the final bell, and he gave Moraes the win after reviewing the replay with the California State Athletic Commission.

Aljamain Sterling Trashes Herb Dean

Speaking on the “Weekly Scraps” podcast, Sterling laid into Dean, whom he called an “awful referee” and a “bad ref” for what he believes are the constant mistakes he makes in the cage.

“Herb Dean, awful, awful referee. I’m tired of these people coping, saying ‘the gold standard.’ … Herb Dean is a good dude. I’m not going to say he’s a bad person because he’s a bad ref. But he’s a bad ref. He’s a bad ref. I know it’s not an easy job, but when you consistently mess up like that, it’s rough. It’s hard for someone to keep constantly trying to back you,” Sterling said (via MMAFighting.com).

Aljamain Sterling Says Herb Dean Should Be Demoted

In Sterling’s opinion, the system in MMA protects officials from any punishment if they make a mistake. In his opinion, Dean should be punished and relegated to the minor leagues.

“You have politics, everything for some reason, it’s just a good old boys club where you get in and once you’re in, it’s almost impossible to get you out. It’s almost like joining the union or if you get tenure in the school system out here. You’ve just got to work, not doing anything crazy for two, three years, and once you get tenure, you can just be the worst and they’re going to back you and protect you. And I love that, but it gets to a certain point where you can’t protect someone anymore,” Sterling said.

“I’m not calling for Herb Dean to get fired, but there should be a review. He should get demoted to lower levels of competition. These are big stakes, events, and careers that we’re talking about, and there’s got to be some better people that are working their way up that haven’t gotten a shot yet or some people that are a bit more knowledgeable.”