Herb Dean criticizes Dan Hardy for 'interference in bout', feels he made the right call

Veteran MMA referee Herb Dean found himself on the end of some criticism by commentators Dan Hardy and Paul Felder for what they felt was a late stoppage in the Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert fight at UFC on ESPN 14. Dan Hardy chastised Herb Dean on the broadcast before they ended up having some heated exchange of words face-to-face cage side, after the fight.

Herb Dean reflects on heated exchange with Dan Hardy

Herb Dean felt that Dan Hardy was interfering in the bout and was being too smart for his own good. Meanwhile, Dan Hardy has stuck to what he feels is right, repeating that he was just looking out for the safety of the fighter. Herb Dean came out with his own rebuttal on Sunday and stated, “by no means was that a late stoppage,”. Herb Dean also felt that Hardy’s explicit yelling during the fight-ending sequence was both out of line and potentially dangerous.

Herbert had done well during the fight for two rounds but found himself on the end of a haymaker from Trinaldo in the third round of the fight. When Herb Dean did not stop the fight, Trinaldo ended up landing four more punches before the fight was called off.

“What I really want to get into right now is during the match someone yelled out, ‘Stop the fight,’. It’s really interesting because there’s only professionals there and there’s not one fan in the building. Everybody has a job there, everybody knows what their job is and they have specific duties. I have a job to referee the fight, one of my duties is to stop the fight when the fighter’s taking too much damage. There’s two people who are authorized to advise me during that, to maybe yell out those words, ‘Stop the fight.’

“There’s one, the physician. We have a ringside physician who knows more about the physical body than I do. He’s there to give me advice. If he can’t get my attention maybe he might yell, ‘Stop the fight.’ Then there’s the fighter’s corner. They train with them, they know about them, they know more things about him than I do. They may know something I don’t know, so that’s why they would give me some advice to stop the fight. Ultimately to stop the fight is my decision. I don’t know who it was who did it because I was looking at the fight and and I had heard it, so I assumed it was either of the two people authorized to do it, the doctor or the corner.”- Herb Dean issues statement on Instagram

The UFC meanwhile has decided to investigate the conflict between the two parties, according to the company’s senior vice president David Shaw.