UFC referee Herb Dean has opened up about his legendary career that’s certainly seen its fair share of setbacks.
The 53-year-old has won ‘Referee of the Year’ an incredible nine times since the category was introduced by the World MMA Awards in 2010.
Dean, who is a former fighter with a 2-3 record, has been labelled the ‘gold standard’ of MMA officiating by Dana White, Joe Rogan, and countless fans.
Despite the success, he admits his career hasn’t been straightforward.
Dean claims he has been threatened by UFC fighters for making calls they disagreed with, but it is his exchanges with former light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell that stand out from the rest.
“Chuck Liddell used to try to make pre-emptive threats,” he said on The Casuals MMA podcast.
“He’d be like, ‘I saw what happened with this fight earlier on that you did.’
“It would usually be after the show after he’d been partying, he’s coming back in and saying, ‘If you do that to me, I’m whooping your a***.’”
“That’s just a funny anomaly. Most of the guys in our sport are really respectful.”
Dean showed off his granite chin while overseeing Jon Jones’ first fight with Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 in January 2015.
‘Bones’ began celebrating his decision win over Cormier with seconds left on the clock. While this was happening, ‘DC’ let down his guard and ate a cheap shot.
Cormier retaliated by swinging at Jones and he carried on doing so after their fight ended – but it was Dean who ended up on the receiving end of one of his illegal punches.
Almost a decade later, the MMA official is still unsure if he was the intended target.
Dean added: “[Cormier] says it wasn’t on purpose.
“I think he was so frustrated he would just want to hit me because it was a frustrating moment.
“The punch hit Jon first and then hit me.”
Besides a few issues, Dean’s relationship with the fighters is good.
It’s his fellow referees who he’s more likely to have beef with.
Dean revealed: “For some of them it’s a competitive thing.”
“People want to do this, so it’s competitive sometimes. [There’s] backstabbing. I’m not going to tell you who. Sometimes there’s beef.”
Dean is expected to be back in the Octagon at UFC 303 on June 29.
Hopefully, his comments don’t cause too much tension in the referee’s room.
News Summary:
- I’ve been threatened by Chuck Liddell and Daniel Cormier punched me – but my biggest beef is with UFC referees
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