Veteran UFC referee Herb Dean has expressed a desire to have a candid conversation with Joe Rogan and the rest of the UFC 306 commentary team following critical comments made during the broadcast. Dean, who was the referee for the main event between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley, faced some pointed remarks from Rogan during the final rounds of the bout. Rogan labeled Dean’s calls for Dvalishvili to “work” on the ground as “insane,” sparking a wave of criticism online.
Dean recently opened up about his side of the situation on the JAXXON Podcast, where he explained how Rogan’s comments seemed to trigger a wave of backlash on social media.
“I’m not sure if I totally understand that myself,” Dean said, “I think the analysts who started it — and I don’t want to be critiquing those guys, or have an adversarial relationship because, first of all, they say a lot of good things about me, and they have over the years.”
“I would like to talk to them… the commentators. I can tell it was the commentators before I even heard that it was because on social media, I was getting a lot of the same thing. … I see a bunch of grown men saying somebody else’s opinion, must’ve been something the analysts said, and it was.”
Herb Dean Wants to Clear the Air With Joe Rogan After UFC 306 Comments
The bout saw Dvalishvili secure a unanimous decision win, but it wasn’t a fight many in the MMA community would call memorable. During the match, there were a few unusual moments, including Dvalishvili exchanging words with O’Malley’s coach, Tim Welch, in the early seconds and a unique warning from Dean for Dvalishvili to “stop kissing” O’Malley’s back toward the end of a round. However, it was Rogan’s live commentary that seemed to put Dean in the center of attention, with his critique drawing much of the negative online feedback Dean received.
“They’re saying that I shouldn’t be telling the guys to work,” Dean explained, “This is something I’ve always done. Our sport, there’s rules that are there for safety. There’s rules that are there for fairness, we have rules that are there to build our sport. To make our sport what it’s supposed to be. To make our sport more exciting. …
Herb Added
“Most of the coaches can say my pre-fight instructions with me because I say the same thing. I tell them about things we have problems with. Most of them know the rules… but to this stuff, two things that are the most important things before I intervene: The biggest intervention is when I’m going to start your fight. So you always hear me say, ‘Fight back. Fight back.’ That lets them know so it’s not a surprise to them. … The next thing I’m going to say is, I’m going to say ‘work.’ And that means that I’m about to take your position away. Because in this sport we have position, and a position can lead to a fight being finished, but when I say ‘work,’ that means what I’m looking for is not just busy work, I’m looking for effort to finish the fight.
“Instead a bunch of [tapping] punches, where you could do a full five-minute round with this and not change, I’m expecting you to posture, throw bigger shots. Instead of trying to hold on, I’m expending you to spend energy advancing position, passing guard, or if you’re up against the fence, putting energy into a takedown. Something that’s going to bring the fight to a conclusion.”
He Continues
For those newer to MMA, Dean’s approach to the sport involves these types of warnings to encourage action and to keep fights from stagnating.
“If you have a superior position, if you’re not using it to win the fight, you’re using it to hide from your opponent to burn time. That’s not what we want our sport to look like, I don’t think.”
Herb Dean addressed Joe Rogan’s comments to the media, but states he’d love to sit down with the UFC commentator.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
