Referee Herb Dean might be in some real trouble this time. After the whole Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane debacle dominated headlines this week, the veteran referee was back in the spotlight during the opening fight on the main card of UFC Vegas 119 between Vinicius Oliveira and Andre Fili. According to a new report, Fili has raised concerns over alleged illegal strikes to the back of his head, prompting the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) to review the incident.

“After his loss, Andre Fili complained to Herb Dean that the elbows were to the back of the head,” Alex Behunin of MMA Mania reported on X. “Herb checked Fili’s head and was showing him replays with the commission watching.”

Andre Fili, of course, suffered a TKO loss to Vinicius Oliveira at 4:56 of the second round of their featherweight bout. Still, the finish was controversial due to illegal elbows.

While Oliveira came out aggressively in the first round, hacking at Fili’s lead leg with heavy calf kicks, a checked kick appeared to injure Oliveira’s foot, briefly giving Fili an opening to land some damaging body kicks. Once the fight went into the second round, Oliveira marched forward and relied on aggressive, heavy combinations and managed to hurt Fili with a hard punch. Once the American was hurt, Oliveira landed multiple standing elbows in the final sequence of the bout, which appeared to land on the back of Fili’s head, opening a cut on the back of his skull.

This is what led to, as Behunin pointed out, Fili’s complaint to the NSAC. Despite that, a point deduction or change in the result hasn’t been announced as of the time of writing.

A similar incident occurred during the Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane bout earlier this month at the UFC Freedom 250 card. After dropping Pereira with a stiff jab in the second round of their fight, Gane unleashed a rapid series of downward elbows and punches, around 10–15 strikes, some of which landed on or near the back of Pereira’s head and neck while he was attempting to turn around. While Herb Dean, at the time, stepped in to stop the fight, his intervention, according to many, came too late, too little. This resulted in massive backlash from both fans and experts.

‘Poatan’ also criticized Herb Dean for allowing the fight to continue despite what he believed were multiple illegal strikes to the back of the head from Gane. The former light heavyweight champion argued that Dean should be removed from the commission’s officiating roster and added that he would refuse to compete in any future bout if Dean is assigned as the referee. Although ‘Poatan’ initially considered filing a lawsuit in the matter, his team appears to have ultimately chosen not to.

Tom Aspinall, who was also on the receiving end of Gane’s illegal eye-pokes, reacted to Pereira vs. Gane and revealed that he too felt there were several illegal blows to the back of the head in the finishing sequence. However, he also acknowledged that Gane had the upper hand in the fight by then. After outrage erupted on social media, the veteran referee shared a demonstration online showing how and why Gane’s strikes were above board. But how he intends to tackle the controversy of his recent fight remains to be seen.

While Vinicius Oliveira and Andre Fili have not released statements about the controversial end of their fight, they can be happy knowing that their fight was awarded the Fight of the Night bonus, which means they’ll be taking home $100,000 each. As Herb Dean continues to make headlines for the wrong reasons, his biggest critic has shown some sympathy. 

Dan Hardy feels for Herb Dean over the Pereira vs. Gane controversy

Dan Hardy has surprisingly come to Herb Dean’s defense amid the controversy surrounding the referee’s handling of Alex Pereira’s loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250. Despite their well-documented history, Hardy admitted he understands the difficult position Dean was in. 

“It’s a difficult circumstance. I feel for Herb,” Hardy told Helen Yee Sports. “People know my thoughts on him. I think he could do a better job. I think he could take more accountability, but also in that chaotic moment, it’s so difficult to judge the occasional illegal strike.”

Hardy explained that stopping the action to assess the strikes would have given Pereira valuable time to recover while Gane was attempting to secure the finish. He also noted that, under the rules, several of the punches in question may have been legal.

Despite that, Hardy feels Herb Dean should avoid officiating high-profile fights for some time. 

It appears Herb Dean is having several bad days at work. But it’s yet to be seen whether such incidents affect his future in officiating major UFC fights.