UFC legend Henry Cejudo trashed MMA referee Herb Dean, suggesting that “nobody likes this dude” after yet another controversial call.
Dean has had his fair share of iffy calls this year during fights that he has officiated, and the latest one came at UFC 332 during the King Green vs. Esteban Ribovics fight.
Ribovics dropped Green three times, which prompted Dean to step in and stop the fight. But Green protested the stoppage immediately after, as he was not unconscious and wanted to go out on his shield.
UFC president Dana White joked about the stoppage after, saying that Dean was having a “rough (expletive) year.”
Henry Cejudo Trashes Herb Dean
Speaking on the “Pound 4 Pound” podcast alongside fellow UFC legend Kamaru Usman, Cejudo trashed Dean for his stoppage in the Green fight.
“Speaking of robbery, your boy Errb Dean — I wanna call him Herb Dean, but it’s more like Errb Dean — that dude has just been (expletive). It’s ridiculous. It’s ridiculous, the Nevada State Athletic Commission, that he still even has a job, in my opinion. Like nobody likes this dude no more. Nobody. They show him on camera, he’s getting booed. It’s ridiculous, dude. No accountability, man, whatsoever, bro. It’s a (expletive) mafia,” Cejudo said.
“It’s ridiculous that this dude still has a job with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. Nobody likes this dude.”
Via @pound4poundshow
Tough Year for Herb Dean
There is no doubt that 2026 has been a tough year for Dean, with his most controversial officiating performance coming at UFC Freedom 250, when he failed to penalize Ciryl Gane for back-of-the-head strikes against Alex Pereira.
There was also a fight featuring Andre Fili and Vinicius Oliveira where Fili was hurt with an elbow to the back of the head that Dean, again, did not penalize.
In MVP MMA, there was a fight in May where Phumi Nkuta was choked after the final bell was rung in the third round, yet Dean awarded a submission win to Adriano Moraes.
As well, there was a fight at UFC Baku where Dean failed to penalize Shara Magomedov for pulling Michel Pereira’s hair. Pereira was not happy about that and took to his social media to complain about Dean’s inaction in that fight.
Herb Dean Trashed by Henry Cejudo: ‘Nobody Likes This Dude’