Longtime MMA referee John McCarthy says Herb Dean did all the things proper within the UFC 300 primary occasion.
Dean was the referee for the sunshine heavyweight title struggle that noticed Alex Pereira defending his 205lbs title for the primary time in opposition to former champ Jamahal Hill.
Within the opening spherical, Hill kicked Pereira low and as Herb Dean went to step in and pause the motion, ‘Poatan’ waved him off and simply seconds later knocked the challenger out.
After the knockout, some followers complained that Dean was presupposed to cease the struggle, even for a quick second, and reset it, which may have performed a job in Hill getting caught simply seconds later. However, in response to John McCarthy, Dean did all the things completely:
It’s inherently dangerous for the game and unbelievably embarrassing to listen to individuals who supposedly know the game of MMA smear the actions of @HerbDeanMMA as if he was accountable for the knockout of @JamahalH @ufc 300.
Let’s make this as clear as potential for everybody. Herb was…— Massive John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) April 18, 2024
“It’s inherently dangerous for the game and unbelievably embarrassing to listen to individuals who supposedly know the game of MMA smear the actions of @HerbDeanMMA as if he was accountable for the knockout of @JamahalH @ufc300. Let’s make this as clear as potential for everybody. Herb was good within the actions he took in permitting @AlexPereiraUFC to name off the timeout for the kick to the groin he took after which hold the motion of the struggle in movement. The fighter who’s fouled by a strike to the groin is answerable for how a lot time they should take to sufficiently get better from the foul,” John McCarthy wrote on X.
“They’ve as much as 5 minutes of time in the event that they want it. Many occasions fighters don’t want a cease within the motion as a result of they really feel they’ve gained momentum within the struggle and don’t wish to give any time to their opponent. All the things Herb Dean did was precisely what we might prepare any official to do underneath the identical circumstances. Fortunately we had an official within the cage who understands the principles and the mechanics wanted to efficiently handle a world title struggle as an alternative of the speaking heads that guess at what is correct or unsuitable,” McCarthy continued.
As John McCarthy writes, it’s as much as Alex Pereira and he made it clear that he didn’t want a break, so Herb Dean permitting the struggle to proceed at UFC 300 was the suitable name.