Dan Hardy or Herb Dean, who is right after the nasty altercation between the two? (Opinion)

The MMA world has been split over the controversial stoppage during the fight between Francisco Trinaldo and Jai Herbert. Some believe it was a late stoppage from the referee, Herb Dean. And some support the veteran referee on the stoppage. However, Dan Hardy was not one of them.

Dan Hardy was very vocal about the late stoppage as he screamed at Herb Dean while the fight was underway. The former UFC fighter turned analyst, shouted at Herb Dean to stop the fight, as he could see Jai Herbert get knocked out cold. Before discussing the stoppage, let's look at the actions of Dan Hardy that might get him in trouble.

It is to be noted that Dan Hardy is a good friend of Jai Herbert. However, at the end of the day, he is a fighter who knows how much a late stoppage can hurt an athlete inside the octagon. However, Dan Hardy's actions were not justified. As Herb Dean explained that only the ringside doctor and the fighters' corner have the right to command the referee to stop the fight.

Is Dan Hardy right for blaming Herb Dean?

However, what other option Dan Hardy or anyone in the arena who was concerned about Jai Herbert had. Talking about the stoppage, it was neither a good nor a bad stoppage. Herbert dropped on the ground and it seemed he was out. However, Trinaldo did not follow up with punches. And that led Dean to believe that the fight could continue since Trinaldo was not harming Herbert. Besides that, Herbert had his hands up even if he was not fully recovered.

Herb Dean was on a tough spot. Not so long ago, he faced criticism for prematurely stopping the fight between Ben Askren and Robbie Lawler. These things are common in MMA even if it's not helping the fighters. Herb Dean saw Trinaldo was not following up with punches and Herbert was trying to defend himself, which led him to continue the fight. Now he could have stopped the fight after Trinaldo dropped Herbert. And nobody would have complained about the stoppage. But, as a referee, you need to sometimes give an opportunity to the fighter to make a comeback from a bad situation.

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And this stoppage was not as bad as the stoppage of Petr Yan and Jose Aldo or Glover Teixeira and Anthony Smith. However, this controversy did bring up a bigger perspective.

The referees and the judges involved in a fight should be held accountable for their actions. If the judges make a bad decision then no one questions them and the same goes for the referees who sometimes commit mistakes in the fight. These mistakes need to minimize as much as possible. And for that, both the promotion and commissions need to work together to find out a solution.