Herb Dean
Encyclopedia
Herb Deanis an American
mixed martial arts
fighter and referee
. Dean is one of the most seen and well respected referees in mixed martial arts with well over 3,500 professional matches worldwide. He is mostly known for his officiating role in the Ultimate Fighting Championship
organization and his résumé is packed with officiating matches for:
King of the Cage
(KOTC), Gladiator Challenge, International Fight League
(IFL), World Extreme Cagefighting
(WEC), Fight Fest, K-1 Heros, HDNet
, Friday Night Fights, The Gracie Fight Fest. He can be seen on the hit Spike TV show The Ultimate Fighter
. He won Referee of the Year in the World MMA Awards 2010 and 2011.
, held on June 19, 2004, Dean refereed a bout between Tim Sylvia
and Frank Mir
for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship. At 0:50 of round one, Dean called a stop to the fight when he saw Sylvia's right forearm break due to an armbar. Due to the close proximity of a UFC cameraman, a shocked Dean can be heard shouting "Oh, shit!" when he saw the break, and he immediately moved in to stop the fight. This proved difficult, because Sylvia, who was still trying to defend the armbar, argued with him for several seconds, despite Dean's repeatedly telling him "Stop, stop, stop! The fight is over!" Once freed from the armbar, Sylvia again began to argue with Dean, who continually told him, "It's fucking broken! Your arm is broken." Sylvia protested, claiming his arm was perfectly fine and even moving it around with no problems. Dean, however, insisted that "I heard it snap. I saw it go." Ringside physician Dr. Margaret Goodman agreed with Dean's assessment, and the fight was not restarted. In the post-fight interview, Sylvia again denied that his arm was broken, however an X-Ray
that evening showed significant damage to Sylvia's arm, which required surgery and a long recovery. Sylvia later admitted that he knew his arm was broken and wanted to keep fighting in spite of that, but he thanked Herb for saving his career by ending the fight when he did.
At UFC 61
, held on July 8, 2006, Dean served as referee of the highly anticipated rematch between Tito Ortiz
and Ken Shamrock
. At 1:18 into the first round, Dean stepped in and stopped the fight following several consecutive unanswered elbows to the head of Shamrock by Ortiz, giving the victory to Ortiz by TKO. Shamrock, visibly angered, immediately protested the decision. However, it was not overturned and Shamrock was subsequently ushered out of the Octagon. A rematch was held during Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter with Ortiz once again claiming victory in a very similar fashion to the second fight, although Shamrock did not question this decision.
At UFC 70
, held on April 21, 2007, Dean was the referee during the bout between Mirko "Cro cop" Filipović
and Gabriel Gonzaga
. Late in the first round, Dean stood the fight up from the guard position, a measure typically used against inactivity. Some fight analysts claim that Gonzaga was in fact administering ground and pound and had just maneuvered his opponent against the cage for an additional advantage. Shortly after the stand up, Gonzaga knocked out Filipović with a kick to the head. Filipović collapsed awkwardly after receiving the blow, pinning his right foot, which was rotated 180 degrees backwards, underneath his body. Dean quickly freed the pinned foot which helped prevent serious injury. Filipović has stated since that the elbows on the ground confused and damaged him enough that he was disoriented after the stand up, contributing to the subsequent knock-out.
UFC President Dana White
stated after UFC 109
that he thinks Dean "is one of the best referees in this business. Actually, I think he's the best" in reference to his stoppage in the fight between Mike Swick
and Paulo Thiago
. He added that after Dean's stoppage of the Mir vs. Sylvia fight he never questions Dean. "When Herb Dean does shit, I don't even question it anymore. I wait for the replay. This guy sees shit that I can't see sitting there watching the monitor." Dana White also stated after UFC 116
that Dean is the best referee, and other referees should learn from Dean. Dean is also known for protecting the health and welfare of fighters in the cage.
|-
|Loss
|align=center|2-3
|
Dave Legeno
|TKO (eye injury)
|Cage Rage 22
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|5:00
|London, England
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center|2-2
|
Jongyu Choi
|Submission (keylock)
|Spirit MC
9
|
|align=center|2
|align=center|3:51
|South Korea
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|2–1
|
Timothy Mendoza
|TKO (strikes)
|King of the Cage
37: Hitmaster
|
|align=center|2
|align=center|3:31
|San Jacinto, California
, United States
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center|1–1
| Joe Riggs
|Submission (strikes)
|Rage in the Cage 43: The Match
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|0:52
|Arizona
, United States
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|1–0
| Randy Halmot
|Submission (choke)
|Gladiator Challenge 6
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|0:43
|Colusa, California
, United States
|MMA Debut
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
fighter and referee
Referee
A referee is the person of authority, in a variety of sports, who is responsible for presiding over the game from a neutral point of view and making on the fly decisions that enforce the rules of the sport...
. Dean is one of the most seen and well respected referees in mixed martial arts with well over 3,500 professional matches worldwide. He is mostly known for his officiating role in the Ultimate Fighting Championship
Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport...
organization and his résumé is packed with officiating matches for:
King of the Cage
King of the Cage
King of the Cage, also known as KOTC, is a mixed martial arts promotion based in Southern California, USA.-History:KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features up and coming MMA stars as well as experienced combat fighters....
(KOTC), Gladiator Challenge, International Fight League
International Fight League
The International Fight League was an American mixed martial arts promotion billed as the world's first MMA league. It was founded on January 7, 2006 and closed on July 31, 2008...
(IFL), World Extreme Cagefighting
World Extreme Cagefighting
World Extreme Cagefighting was an American mixed martial arts promotion. It was purchased by Zuffa, LLC, the parent company of Ultimate Fighting Championship , in 2006. In its final incarnation, it was made up of 3 weight classes: 135, 145 and 155 lbs. To accommodate the smaller...
(WEC), Fight Fest, K-1 Heros, HDNet
HDNet
HDNet is a men's interest television channel in the United States, broadcasting exclusively in high-definition format and available via cable and satellite television...
, Friday Night Fights, The Gracie Fight Fest. He can be seen on the hit Spike TV show The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts competition produced by Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship , and soon to be shown on FX. The show features unknown, professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as...
. He won Referee of the Year in the World MMA Awards 2010 and 2011.
UFC and notable matches
At UFC 48UFC 48
UFC 48: Payback was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on June 19, 2004, at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Paradise, Nevada...
, held on June 19, 2004, Dean refereed a bout between Tim Sylvia
Tim Sylvia
Timothy Deane Sylvia is an American professional mixed martial arts fighter, professional wrestler, and former Ultimate Fighting Championship Heavyweight Champion. He trains as a member of the Miletich Fighting Systems camp and is part of their MFSE group...
and Frank Mir
Frank Mir
Francisco Santos Miranda is an American mixed martial artist, as well as a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Kenpō Karate, who competes in the heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion and a former UFC Interim Heavyweight Champion...
for the vacant UFC Heavyweight Championship. At 0:50 of round one, Dean called a stop to the fight when he saw Sylvia's right forearm break due to an armbar. Due to the close proximity of a UFC cameraman, a shocked Dean can be heard shouting "Oh, shit!" when he saw the break, and he immediately moved in to stop the fight. This proved difficult, because Sylvia, who was still trying to defend the armbar, argued with him for several seconds, despite Dean's repeatedly telling him "Stop, stop, stop! The fight is over!" Once freed from the armbar, Sylvia again began to argue with Dean, who continually told him, "It's fucking broken! Your arm is broken." Sylvia protested, claiming his arm was perfectly fine and even moving it around with no problems. Dean, however, insisted that "I heard it snap. I saw it go." Ringside physician Dr. Margaret Goodman agreed with Dean's assessment, and the fight was not restarted. In the post-fight interview, Sylvia again denied that his arm was broken, however an X-Ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
that evening showed significant damage to Sylvia's arm, which required surgery and a long recovery. Sylvia later admitted that he knew his arm was broken and wanted to keep fighting in spite of that, but he thanked Herb for saving his career by ending the fight when he did.
At UFC 61
UFC 61
UFC 61: Bitter Rivals was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday, July 8, 2006. The event took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, in Las Vegas, Nevada and was broadcast live on pay-per-view in the United States.-Background:The main event was a...
, held on July 8, 2006, Dean served as referee of the highly anticipated rematch between Tito Ortiz
Tito Ortiz
Jacob Christopher "Tito" Ortiz is a Mexican-American mixed martial artist and former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, having held the title from April 14, 2000 to September 26, 2003. Along with fighters like Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell, he was one of the sport's early stars...
and Ken Shamrock
Ken Shamrock
Kenneth Wayne Shamrock is an American mixed martial arts fighter, UFC Hall of Famer and professional wrestler...
. At 1:18 into the first round, Dean stepped in and stopped the fight following several consecutive unanswered elbows to the head of Shamrock by Ortiz, giving the victory to Ortiz by TKO. Shamrock, visibly angered, immediately protested the decision. However, it was not overturned and Shamrock was subsequently ushered out of the Octagon. A rematch was held during Ortiz vs. Shamrock 3: The Final Chapter with Ortiz once again claiming victory in a very similar fashion to the second fight, although Shamrock did not question this decision.
At UFC 70
UFC 70
UFC 70: Nations Collide was the second UFC event held in the United Kingdom, and the first in Manchester on Saturday, April 21, 2007. The first UFC event in the UK was UFC 38: Brawl at the Hall on July 13, 2002. UFC 70 was also only the seventh UFC event held outside the United States, and the...
, held on April 21, 2007, Dean was the referee during the bout between Mirko "Cro cop" Filipović
Mirko Filipovic
Mirko Filipović is a former Croatian heavyweight kickboxer, mixed martial artist, politician, and law enforcement officer. Filipović was a member of the Croatian Parliament from 2003 through 2007...
and Gabriel Gonzaga
Gabriel Gonzaga
Gabriel Gonzaga , is a Brazilian professional mixed martial artist who most recently competed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, is a former member of Chute Boxe Academy and now fights out of Ludlow, Massachusetts as a part of Team Link...
. Late in the first round, Dean stood the fight up from the guard position, a measure typically used against inactivity. Some fight analysts claim that Gonzaga was in fact administering ground and pound and had just maneuvered his opponent against the cage for an additional advantage. Shortly after the stand up, Gonzaga knocked out Filipović with a kick to the head. Filipović collapsed awkwardly after receiving the blow, pinning his right foot, which was rotated 180 degrees backwards, underneath his body. Dean quickly freed the pinned foot which helped prevent serious injury. Filipović has stated since that the elbows on the ground confused and damaged him enough that he was disoriented after the stand up, contributing to the subsequent knock-out.
UFC President Dana White
Dana White
Dana White is the current President of the Ultimate Fighting Championship , a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States.- Biography :...
stated after UFC 109
UFC 109
UFC 109: Relentless was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on February 6, 2010 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.-Background:...
that he thinks Dean "is one of the best referees in this business. Actually, I think he's the best" in reference to his stoppage in the fight between Mike Swick
Mike Swick
Mike Swick is an American mixed martial artist currently competing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship as a welterweight....
and Paulo Thiago
Paulo Thiago
Paulo Thiago Alencar Artunes is a Brazilian Mixed Martial Artist. Thiago is currently signed with the Ultimate Fighting Championship, fighting in their welterweight division.-Mixed martial arts:...
. He added that after Dean's stoppage of the Mir vs. Sylvia fight he never questions Dean. "When Herb Dean does shit, I don't even question it anymore. I wait for the replay. This guy sees shit that I can't see sitting there watching the monitor." Dana White also stated after UFC 116
UFC 116
UFC 116: Lesnar vs. Carwin was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on July 3, 2010 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States...
that Dean is the best referee, and other referees should learn from Dean. Dean is also known for protecting the health and welfare of fighters in the cage.
Mixed martial arts record
Herb is 2–3 in professional MMA with one win coming via submission and the other via knockout.|-
|Loss
|align=center|2-3
|
Dave LegenoDave Legeno
David "Dave" Legeno is an English actor, boxer and mixed martial artist.-Life and career:Legeno was born in Marylebone, London, England. He has been quoted as saying that he wanted to act since he read Shakespeare's Richard III...
|TKO (eye injury)
|Cage Rage 22
Cage Rage 22
Cage Rage 22: Hard as Hell was a mixed martial arts event held by the Cage Rage Championships on July 14, 2007 at the Wembley Arena in London, England. It was televised on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom....
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|5:00
|London, England
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center|2-2
|
Jongyu Choi|Submission (keylock)
|Spirit MC
Spirit MC
Spirit Martial Challenge is a defunct South Korean mixed martial arts promotion formerly operated by Entlian Corporation.The promotion was separated into Spirit MC , Spirit MC Inter League, Spirit MC Amateur League. Amateur League was a minor league, which was a stepping stone to the Professional...
9
|
|align=center|2
|align=center|3:51
|South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|2–1
|
Timothy Mendoza|TKO (strikes)
|King of the Cage
King of the Cage
King of the Cage, also known as KOTC, is a mixed martial arts promotion based in Southern California, USA.-History:KOTC was founded in 1998 by Terry Trebilcock. KOTC features up and coming MMA stars as well as experienced combat fighters....
37: Hitmaster
|
|align=center|2
|align=center|3:31
|San Jacinto, California
San Jacinto, California
San Jacinto is a city in Riverside County, California, U.S.A. It was named after Saint Hyacinth and is located at the north end of the San Jacinto Valley, with Hemet to its south. The mountains associated with the valley are the San Jacinto Mountains. The population was 44,199 at the 2010...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
|
|-
|Loss
|align=center|1–1
|
Joe RiggsJoe Riggs
Joseph Jonathan Riggs is an American mixed martial arts fighter. He has competed at weights ranging from Heavyweight down to Welterweight. Currently, Riggs fights as a Middleweight.-Background:...
|Submission (strikes)
|Rage in the Cage 43: The Match
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|0:52
|Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
|
|-
|Win
|align=center|1–0
|
Randy Halmot|Submission (choke)
|Gladiator Challenge 6
|
|align=center|1
|align=center|0:43
|Colusa, California
Colusa, California
Colusa is the county seat of Colusa County, California. The population was 5,971 at the 2010 census, up from 5,402 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
|MMA Debut