Herb Dean faces backlash after controversial officiating at UFC Baku

It hasn’t been a very good few weeks for longtime MMA referee Herb Dean. Dean took a lot of heat from two-division champion Alex Pereira after the referee allowed Ciryl Gane to get away with a few shots to the back of the head during their UFC White House title fight. A week later, Andre […]

UFC middleweight Michel Pereira went after referee Herb Dean following his decision loss to Shara Magomedov at UFC Baku.The fight between Pereira and Magomedov, which served as UFC Baku‘s co-main event, was controversial due to the fouls that Magomedov committed against Pereira.In the first round, Pereira dropped Magomedov with a big strike, and the two […] The post Michel Pereira Goes After Herb Dean Following UFC Baku Defeat appeared first on HEAVY.

BAKU, AZERBAIJAN - JUNE 27: Referee Herb Dean issues a warning to Shara Magomedov of Russia after grabbing the hair of Michel Pereira of Brazil in round one in a middleweight fight during the UFC Fight Night event at National Gymnastics Arena on June 27, 2026 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC) Alex Pereira isn’t letting go of his vendetta towards referee Herb Dean. The former light heavyweight and middleweight champion went on the offensive in the days after his loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC White House, blaming Dean for failing to recognize that he was eating several strikes to the back of the head during his fight. Pereira was ultimately stopped following a barrage of shots on the feet, but the multitude of punches and elbows he absorbed on the ground left him in a severely compromised state. Pereira blasted Dean for not only ignoring what he deemed as illegal blows but the referee failed to admonish Gane or pause the action for the fouls. Now, Pereira is taking aim at the veteran referee again following a controversial performance at UFC Baku on Saturday. “Herb Dean … coward,” Pereira wrote on Instagram along with an image from the fight between Shara “Bullet” Magomedov and Michel Pereira. In the fight, Dean warned Magomedov on two separate occasions for pulling Pereira’s hair during exchanges on the ground. In between rounds, Dean went to Magomedov’s corner and explained yet again that his illegal moves wouldn’t be tolerated and one more foul would result in points taken. Later in the fight, Magomedov poked Pereira in the eye and while Dean paused the action to allow the Brazilian time to recover, he only warned the Russian for the foul and didn’t penalize him any points for the infraction. Obviously none of that sat well with Pereira, who is obviously doing everything in his power to shine a light on Dean’s questionable refereeing skills.

Alex Pereira is not done going after Herb Dean following the ref’s latest performance at UFC Baku

Herb Dean is under fire again after UFC Baku, where he warned Shara Magomedov for repeated fouls but never took a point in his decision win over Michel Pereira.