Referee Herb Dean responds to criticism regarding his officiating of the UFC 306 main event between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili

During the UFC 306 main event between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili a few weeks ago, the referee in charge, Herb Dean, received a lot of criticism for the way he officiated the fight throughout.

The UFC 306 main event between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili on September 14 got off to an extremely weird start when Herb Dean stopped the action around 20 seconds in to warn O’Malley’s corner for excessive coaching.

Tim Welch later admitted that he was calling instructions to Dvalishvili to be ‘patient’ which is against the rules and comes under excessive coaching.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesHerb Dean explains why he stopped the fight in round oneAlthough several fans and even the UFC commentary team were unaware of the excessive coaching rule, Dean did the right thing by halting the action and giving Welch a warning.

“It happens and we do address it and it’s been happening for as long as the sport’s been here, and even coaching the referee through the fighter, ‘Okay well Herb’s gonna stand you up because all he wants to do is hold you and he’s a boring b*ch-ass wrestler’, you know what I mean?” Dean said in an interview with Helen Yee.

Again, the referee was called to action in the second round when ‘The Machine’ infamously began to kiss the neck of O’Malley whilst he had him in a guillotine.

“That does fall into unsportsmanlike conduct… abusive language, things like that you’re not supposed to do. It was a little bit romantic, yeah, a little too much romance,” Dean continued.

‘DOUCHEBAG’: Michael Bisping slams Conor McGregor for his behavior at the Anthony Joshua vs Daniel Dubois boxing fightHerb Dean responds to criticism for calling for more work in round fiveDespite dealing with the two bizarre situations very well, Dean was then under the spotlight on social media for telling Dvalishvili to work during round five when he was controlling the 29-year-old then-champion.

Explaining his reasoning for telling a fighter to work more, the veteran referee said: “I’ve seen on social media people have spoken about me calling the fighters for more action and that’s what I’ve always done.

“I can tell you what I tell the fighters in the rules briefing. I tell them anytime I’m interfering or intervening, I’m gonna talk to you first like if I’m gonna stand it up and when I’m gonna say first, ‘Let’s work’ I usually clap and what I’m expecting from them is not busy work, I’ve specified.

“I’m looking for effort to finish the fight, so you’re either to posture to where you can potentially throw fight-ending attacks or advance your position. Those rules are there to make our sport look the way we want it to look.”

#UFC306

Can’t tell me Herb Dean hasn’t been told by Dana to influence that fight.

What the fuck was that all about!?

Did he have money on Sugar??

— 84% Battery (@40_40vision) September 15, 2024 View Tweet

The biggest issue the fans have is that between the different officials, there is a huge inconsistency. In the co-main event between Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso, Shevchenko totted up over 16 minutes of control time.

Despite taking Grasso’s back on a few occasions, ‘Bullet’ ultimately just controlled position without the referee in charge, Mark Smith, getting involved which shows a lack of consistency for the rules.

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