Moicano, Aspinall join Pereira in ripping Herb Dean officiating

Renato Moicano and Tom Aspinall have joined Alex Pereira in calling out referee Herb Dean after a string of controversial officiating decisions in recent UFC events.

Moicano, one of Brazil's most popular MMA voices, posted a video on his YouTube channel blasting Dean for not taking points from Sharabutdin Magomedov during the Russian's bout with Michel Pereira at UFC Baku. Magomedov grabbed Pereira's hair repeatedly and landed an eye poke that went unpunished. "Three weeks in a row where Herb Dean has interfered with results," Moicano said, per Sherdog. "The Russian committed an eye poke and grabbed Michel's hair three times, yet he did nothing. If he had punished [Magomedov for the infractions], the result would have been a draw."

Aspinall calls MMA rules 'suggestions'

Aspinall, who blamed Dean the previous week for Pereira's loss to Ciryl Gane after a series of illegal blows, took to Instagram Stories to weigh in on the Magomedov fouls. The interim heavyweight champion suggested modern MMA enforcement has gone soft. "MMA doesn't have 'rules' anymore. They're just 'suggestions'," Aspinall wrote.

Pereira, Dean's loudest critic in recent weeks, responded to a post about the UFC Baku controversy with a blunt assessment: "Herb Dean is a coward!" according to the report.

The backlash follows what Moicano described as three consecutive events marred by Dean's handling of infractions, starting at UFC White House and continuing through the Lok Dog versus Andre Fili card last week. No word yet from the UFC or athletic commissions on whether Dean's assignments will be affected.

Reported via:

• Sherdog — Renato 'Moicano,' Tom Aspinall join 'Poatan' in criticizing Herb Dean’s officiating