Herb Dean is facing mounting criticism across the MMA community after a string of contentious refereeing moments in recent UFC events.
At UFC Freedom 250, Alex Pereira complained about illegal strikes to the back of the head in his loss to Ciryl Gane while Dean was the third man in the cage. Andre Fili also expressed frustration over similar fouls in his UFC Fight Night 279 defeat to Vinicius Oliveira, again with Dean officiating.
The scrutiny intensified at UFC Fight Night 280, where Dean did not penalize Shara Magomedov for repeated fouls, including hair grabbing, during Magomedov’s decision win over Michel Pereira.
Outside the cage, notable figures Jorge Masvidal and Brendan Schaub have questioned Dean's competency to continue working at the highest level of the sport.
The debate was a central topic on MMA Junkie’s "Spinning Back Clique," where staff members Danny Segura, Mike Bohn, George Garcia and Brian Garcia shared their thoughts on the situation, with the panel centered around "Spinning Back Clique" as the discussion platform.
