Alex Pereira has had enough of Herb Dean, and this time it is not even about his own fight. The Brazilian posted a clip on social media of Shara Magomedov pulling Michel Pereira’s hair at UFC Baku and labelled it simply:
“Herb Dean Coward.”
That says everything about where ‘Poatan’s’ patience currently sits with the veteran referee.
The UFC Baku Incident That Broke the Camel’s Back
Shara Magomedov grabbed Michel Pereira’s hair while defending ground strikes in the opening round as a way to control posture and avoid damage. Dean stopped the action, issued a warning, and moved on.
Then in round three, Magomedov landed a blatant eye poke, and once again Dean halted the bout, issued another warning, and still took no point. The decision left ‘Bullet’ with a 29-28 split decision win that would have been a draw had Dean taken a point for either foul.
Michel Pereira was robbed of a result by warnings that carried absolutely no consequence, and he clearly is not happy.
Alex Pereira Has Personal History With Herb Dean’s Inaction
This is not a one-off reaction. At UFC Freedom 250, Alex Pereira accused Ciryl Gane of landing multiple illegal back-of-the-head shots while he was down, none of which drew a point deduction from Herb Dean either. ‘Poatan’ believes those illegal strikes directly helped ‘Bon Gamin’ TKO him in Round 2 to capture the interim heavyweight title.
Two fights, two Brazilians, the same referee, and the same pattern of warnings substituting for actual enforcement.
Herb Dean Now Under Fire Three Consecutive Weeks
Herb Dean has now drawn criticism in three consecutive weeks for officiating decisions, with no sign of the stricter enforcement UFC brass has promised. The sport has a refereeing problem, and Alex Pereira is the loudest voice calling it out right now.
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