Tough job in a tough game Friday results
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/10/2010 (5822 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Herb Dean lives by his instincts and, after 17 years working in the fight game, still thrives on the action.
One of the best referees in mixed martial arts, Dean was in Winnipeg on Friday as a guest ref at the Canadian Fighting Championship 6 show at the Winnipeg Convention Centre. Dean is among the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s elite officials but said he works wherever he can to help develop MMA as a mainstream sport.
“I’ve been to Winnipeg before (to teach an officials training seminar) and I really like what’s going on (here) in mixed martial arts,” Dean, 40, said. “I’ve always done a lot of matches at smaller shows as well as larger shows; it’s good for me as an official to stay busy so I stay sharp, and also, I get to see a lot of the rising stars before they go on to the larger stage. I haven’t made my last mistake, but I haven’t learned my last trick either.”
At CFC 6, Dean worked three bouts and had a smooth night. He was busiest in the preliminary rounds during the heavyweight bout between Kyle Cardinal, making his MMA debut, and Lee Mein. He had to call two time-outs after an accidental low blow and an eye poke. On the main card Dean worked the Roland Delorme-Eric Wilson fight and the Eric Perez-Remi Morvan fight.
Dean’s start in the business was at UFC 1, when no one could have imagined UFC would become the sport’s biggest show and play a leading role in working to regulate the sport.
Dean said strength of conviction has been his greatest asset when facing controversial calls as an MMA referee.
One of Dean’s most famous calls saved a fighter’s career. He was the head referee on June 19, 2004 at UFC 48 for a heavyweight title bout between Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir. Just 50 seconds into the first round, Dean stopped the fight after he saw Sylvia’s right forearm break. Though the fighter protested, and continued to protest in the post-fight interview, Dean was steadfast. It turned out the fighter’s arm was so badly broken surgery was needed to repair it.
“When you make a decision, you need to go for it. It’s very serious. When you stop a match, you’re affecting someone’s career, and you’re balancing that with their health and safety and their income, dreams, goals and sacrifices of spending time away from their family for that one moment,” Dean said. “That’s very serious to me. So when I make a decision, I believe strongly in it.”
ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca