Herb Dean to UFC 306 Critics: My Job is to Do Something

As Merab Dvalishvili defeated Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 , referee Herb Dean drew criticism for his performance as the main event’s third man in the cage. The veteran official inserted himself into the action more times than many deemed necessary.

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In a recent interview, the longtime official offered a rare glimpse into his thinking during the fight. “It was a good fight and you know I had some things to do there. There was a lot going on there,” he told Helen Yee.

In the opening moments Dvalishvili and Tim Welch, O’Malley’s coach, exchanged harsh words. Herb Dean reprimanded Welch after pausing the action. This particular sequence drew the ire of the commentary team and sent social media into an uproar.

“I don’t want to harp on it, but yeah as a referee it is our job to be in charge of excessive coaching…There is a rule,” Dean said of the bizarre scene.

“I’m not here to be anyone’s parents or anything and we want people’s personalities to be able to shine. That’s what makes our sport fun,” Herb Dean continued.

“We have some great personalities but there is a rule that seconds are not to interfere in the fight. And that’s including trying to influence the referee for one thing. But you definitely can’t try to influence the other fighter or distract them. Your job is to coach your fighter. So yeah, my job is to do something about it.”

Herb Dean: I’m Always Learning

Despite how novel the situation seemed to fans, Dean said that enforcing excessive coaching rules aren’t uncommon. “It’s been happening as long as the sport has been here,” he insisted.

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Another peculiar occurrence was when “The Machine” kissed O’Malley towards the end of the first round. Dean labeled it under the “unsportsmanlike conduct” rule which also includes abusive language.

Perhaps the loudest outcries came from Dean calling for more action in the final round as Dvalishvili had dominant position. Former champions Michael Bisping , Aljamain Sterling , Robert Whittaker , and Kamaru Usman were among the many voices.

“I can tell you what I tell the fighters during the rules briefing. I tell them ‘you know anytime I’m going to interfere, any intervention I’m going to talk to you first.’ If I’m going to stand up…I’m going to say ‘let’s work,’ I usually clap. That means what I’m expecting from him is not busy work. I specify, ‘I’m looking for effort to finish the fight.’”

As far as the criticism, Dean is taking it in stride and open to dialogue. “There’s a lot of smart guys, especially even our commentary team. They have opinions on it. And I’m always interested in talking to those guys because they think about this sport a lot,” he said.

“I’m always going to be learning something new from some of these athletes if they take some time to share with me.”

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