Anthony Hernandez is not taking his UFC Sacramento loss quietly. After dropping a brutal five-round decision to Gregory Rodrigues, ‘Fluffy’ came out with an accusation that instantly put an ugly stain on the result: he says ‘Robocop’ repeatedly cheated by grabbing inside his gloves when the fight got physical.
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According to Hernandez, the Brazilian constantly grabbed the inside of his gloves throughout the bout, which he believes gave ‘Robocop’ an unfair advantage during some of the most intense grappling exchanges. And while the setback was Anthony Hernandez’s second in a row, it appears that the glove-grabbing is what left a bad taste in his mouth.
“The more I seen him slow down, I thought, ‘OK, I’m going to get him this round,’” Hernandez said at the post-fight press conference. “I hit him a few times; I rocked his s—, he’s a tough son of a b—-. I hit him with everything and the kitchen sink, hit him with some hard elbows, f—– was cheating and grabbing the inside of my gloves, and I told [referee] Herb Dean that.
“I fight clean, so it is what it is. Maybe I should be more dirty.”
‘Fluffy’ claimed he repeatedly informed Herb Dean about the alleged glove grabbing during the fight but said the veteran referee only warned the Brazilian rather than issuing a penalty.
“I told f—— Herb, ‘This motherf—–’s grabbed my glove, like, four times,” he further added. “‘Hey, he’s grabbing my gloves,’ and he told him, ‘Hey, stop.’ But I mean, whatever. Don’t take a point, whatever”. “I guess people like to cheat, so it is what it is.”
The rule itself is not complicated. Under Foul No. 14 of the Unified Rules of MMA, “Holding opponent’s gloves or shorts,” a fighter cannot control an opponent by grabbing the glove material. Grabbing the actual hand is legal, but using the glove itself to trap, hold, or manipulate that hand is not.
So if Hernandez is telling the truth and Rodrigues repeatedly grabbed inside his gloves during grappling exchanges, that was not some gray-area tactic. It was a foul.
The controversy starts with what Herb Dean did about it. The rules give the referee the power to assess a foul and decide whether points should be deducted, but they do not provide a magic number of violations that automatically triggers a penalty.
That leaves Dean with plenty of discretion, but it also leaves him open to criticism. Hernandez claims Rodrigues did it around four times and was warned to stop, yet no point ever came off the board.
At that point, the question is no longer whether glove grabbing is illegal. It is how many times a fighter can allegedly break the same rule before a warning starts looking toothless.
The accusations came after a highly physical contest. Rodrigues used his striking and powerful leg kicks to disrupt Hernandez’s game, dropping him twice in the second round and seriously injuring his lead leg.
‘Fluffy’ recovered in the third and fourth rounds, but Rodrigues had already done enough to win the unanimous decision. Both fighters were obviously too battered afterward, with ‘Robocop’ using a wheelchair for the post-fight show and struggling to climb the stairs during the official press conference. Hernandez, meanwhile, needed crutches.
Rodrigues’ win could give him a substantial boost in the middleweight rankings, while Anthony Hernandez is currently at a crossroads after two straight losses. Both fighters did at least leave Sacramento with an extra $100,000, as Dana White awarded them Fight of the Night.
However, it is worth noting that Hernandez’s complaints add another controversial chapter to what has already been a difficult year for Herb Dean.
Herb Dean’s in troubled waters again after Anthony Hernandez’s claim
The veteran referee has recently received a lot of heat, and this isn’t the first time his refereeing has put him in the spotlight. Things got pretty heated right after UFC White House, as Alex Pereira slammed Herb Dean’s handling of Ciryl Gane‘s illegal back-of-the-head shots.
‘Poatan’ was clearly furious, claiming Dean failed to appropriately deal with the fouls and even asked for the longtime referee to be removed from UFC fights.
Then came UFC Baku, and yep, Dean was right back in the middle of another controversy. Sharaputdin Magomedov committed several fouls against Michel Pereira by pulling his hair, but no point was taken. So, it was no surprise that Alex Pereira again targeted Dean, claiming that the officiating played a role in making a tough night even worse for his fellow Brazilian.
Now Sacramento has added another foul controversy to Dean’s recent run, only this time the issue was alleged glove grabbing instead of illegal strikes or hair pulling.
Different fight, different foul, yet the criticism around Dean is beginning to sound increasingly familiar, with warnings being issued but points still staying on the board.