MMA referee Herb Dean has explained why he will stand fighters up during dominant positions.
As we know, Herb Dean is one of the most recognizable referees in mixed martial arts. He has played a role in a parade of important fights in the sport over the years, and he looks set to continue doing so for many years to come. Of course, as is the case with many referees, he’s come under scrutiny on several occasions.
Last weekend, Marc Goddard was the man in charge of the fight between Khamzat Chimaev and Dricus du Plessis during the main event of UFC 319. While Herb Dean wasn’t in charge, it certainly seems as if he agreed with Goddard’s decision to stand Chimaev and du Plessis up a few times when they were on the ground.
Herb Dean explains standing Khamzat Chimaev up at UFC 319
“I can tell you what I tell the fighters during the rules briefing. I tell them, ‘Anytime I’m gonna interfere, I’m going to talk to you first. If I’m going to stand up, what I’m going to say first is, “Let’s work.” I usually clap. That means—and what I’m expecting from you is not busy work. I specify: I’m looking for effort to finish the fight.
“So, you’re either to posture to where you can throw, potentially set up fight-ending attacks, or advance your position. Effort to advance, because we don’t—it’s not as easy as just passing the guard—but effort to pass, effort to advance your position, effort to bring the fight to a finish.’”
“The rule was put in—standing up and fighters—to make our sport look the way we want it to look. And I mean, there’s a lot of smart guys, especially on our commentary team. They have opinions on it and I’m always interested in talking to those guys, because they think about this sport a lot, and I’m sure they could give me some viewpoints I’ve never thought about.
“I’m always going to be learning something new from some of these athletes if they take some time to share with me.”
