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Dan Hardy and Aljamain Sterling called out referee Herb Dean after a clumsy stoppage during the Ben Rothwell vs. Marcos Rogerio de Lima co-main event on Saturday.
'Pezao' pounded his opponent with heavy shots right from the start. After multiple flash knockouts, Dean moved to end the fight, clearly grabbing Rogerio de Lima to stop the action. However, 'Big Ben' was still active and as he went for a takedown, Dean stepped back and appeared willing to let the contest continue.
The Brazilian stopped fighting and asked the referee what to do. After a brief moment of hesitation, Herb Dean officially stopped the clash 32 seconds into the first frame.
Both Hardy and Sterling pointed out that it was a terrible piece of refereeing from Dean. 'The Outlaw' tweeted:
"This dude is a liability... #UFCVegas42"
The current UFC bantamweight champion even questioned the UFC commission for still allowing this kind of officiating.
"That was SO BAD! Smh! How is the commission still allowing terrible referring? It’s not an easy job, but dude, you can’t play hot potato with stopping fights like that. Because he looked at you?? Crazy man #UFCVegas42"
Dan Hardy was involved in an altercation with Herb Dean during UFC on ESPN: Whittaker vs. Till last July
Dan Hardy was on commentary duty with Paul Felder at UFC on ESPN 14, a.k.a. UFC Fight Island 3, in Abu Dhabi last July. Herb Dean was the third man inside the octagon for the preliminary card fight between Francisco Trinaldo and Jai Herbert.
Despite a lethal knockdown, which laid a visibly dazed Herbert flat out on the canvas, Dean let the bout go on. In doing so, he allowed the Englishman, who was unable to defend himself, to eat a few more heavy shots.
Dan Hardy yelled at Dean to stop the fight, something the senior UFC referee didn't appreciate. He marched down to the commentary desk after the contest and had a heated conversation with 'The Outlaw'.
UFC president Dana White didn't take action against either of them. However, a few months later, Hardy was released by the world's biggest MMA promotion due to another alleged argument with a female employee.
