Brendan Schaub rips Herb Dean over repeated foul controversies

Former UFC fighter Brendan Schaub has slammed referee Herb Dean for enabling repeated fouls in recent fights, saying Dean's reluctance to deduct points invites fighters to cheat.

Schaub's criticism comes after Dean worked the UFC Baku co-main event between Shara Magomedov and Michel Pereira, where Magomedov pulled Pereira's hair during a first-round ground sequence but received only a warning, according to MMA Fighting. Dean issued no point deduction despite the visible foul.

The incident marks the third consecutive controversy for Dean. At UFC White House, Alex Pereira accused Dean of ignoring repeated back-of-the-head strikes from Ciryl Gane in their interim heavyweight title fight. Andre Fili lodged a similar complaint after his loss to Vinicius Oliveira at UFC Vegas 119.

Schaub says Dean's leniency encourages rule-breaking

Speaking on his Big Brown Breakdown podcast, Schaub argued that Dean's pattern of inaction has become predictable. "If you're a fighter, you're going to play in the gray to get away with what you can, and if Herb's your ref, it's like, yeah dude, kick to the groin if you want," Schaub said. "He's not going to do sh*t. Go ahead and grab hair, grab the fence, get away with as much as possible."

Schaub dismissed the notion that officiating is exceptionally difficult, telling Dean to simply enforce the rules. "You'll hear this all the time, 'Being a ref, toughest job in the world.' No, it's not," he said. "Do your g*ddamn job, Herb. Do your job."

Dean has previously stated he avoids taking points during fights because of how heavily the deduction impacts scorecards. Schaub suggested Dean adopt the opposite approach and become strict with no warnings. "I guarantee you, eye pokes, groin kicks, fence grabs, hair pulls, all go away," he said. "The only reason you're seeing this three fights in a row, these boys know, Herb ain't going to do sh*t."

Dean works his next UFC assignment when the promotion returns to Las Vegas on July 18.

Reported via:

• MMA Fighting — Brendan Schaub blames Herb Dean for fighters fouling without consequence: ‘Herb ain’t going to do sh*t’