Dana White insists he has no say in relation to who officiates UFC fights.
Herb Dean has found himself at the middle of a story within the aftermath of UFC Freedom 250.
The veteran referee failed to acknowledge that Alex Pereira took several illegal shots to the back of his head from Ciryl Gane after they fought for interim heavyweight gold on the White House.
Two weeks later, Dean made one other error that led to a petition calling for him to be banned from overseeing UFC fights.
- LATEST NEWS: Tom Aspinall joins Alex Pereira in criticizing referee Herb Dean after blunder at UFC Baku
Dana White shrugs off Herb Dean query
Shara Magomedov pulled Michel Pereira‘s hair several times during their UFC Baku fight on Saturday.
Herb Dean gave several stern warnings, but refused to take some extent when the fouling continued.
Pereira backed a petition to ban his most up-to-date referee and called the results of his fight with Magomedov, a unanimous decision (29-28 x3) loss, ‘compromised’.
Alex Pereira called Dean a coward for failing to punish Magomedov in the course of the UFC Baku co-main event.
The previous two-weight UFC champion also shared the petition calling for Dean to be expelled from MMA’s premier promotion.
Dana White was asked during a Zuffa Boxing press conference on Sunday if he believes Dean’s recent performances are a cause for concern.
“I don’t know. I don’t know the reply to that query,” the UFC CEO said.
“That’s less than me. That’s as much as the commission.”
“No, but I heard about it,” White added concerning the petition shared by ‘Poatan’.
“There isn’t any MMA in my algorithm. Unless she tells me, I don’t know.”
Jorge Masvidal supports Herb Dean petition
Jorge Masvidal is on record calling Herb Dean ‘the worst referee to ever exist’, so it was not surprising when he backed the viral petition.
The previous BMF champion recently shared a graphic titled ‘Remove Herb Dean,’ and added a caption that made his feelings abundantly clear.
“Fire Herb Dean, advantage the game,” Masvidal wrote on Sunday.
Dean is an 11-time ‘Referee of the 12 months’ winner who has been considered the ‘gold standard’ in MMA officiating for years.
It is going to most definitely take greater than just a few offended fighters and a web-based petition to dislodge him from the UFC.