Ex-UFC champion drops bold take on Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev refereeing controversy 

According to referee Herb Dean, his fellow official Marc Goddard was right to stand up Dricus du Plessis during his UFC 319 fight against Khamzat Chimaev. However, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling doesn't agree with this narrative.

For context, at UFC 319, Chimaev imposed a grappling-heavy game plan that saw him rack up almost 22 minutes of ground control time en route to a 50-44 win across the judges' score cards.

However, referee Goddard intervened and stood up du Plessis twice during the championship rounds despite Chimaev having the dominant grappling position, sparking a heated debate among fans and pundits.

During a recent interview with Helen Yee, Dean asserted that his fellow official did the right thing by standing the fighters up during the middleweight title clash, claiming that holding a dominant position without advancing or hunting for a finish shouldn't be condoned:

"Do we want people to achieve a dominant position, which, if you’re not using to beat your opponent, could almost be looked at as a hiding place, as a place to burn time?... I'm okay with those standups Marc Goddard did."

Sterling doesn't subscribe to Dean's point of view. In a post on X, 'Funk Master' clapped back at the referee's comments, labeling the assessment subjective:

"That’s such [a] subjective thing to interfere with. You’re basically saying if you FEEL a way and the opponent is unskilled enough to change their losing position, that the ref can and should interfere? That's what I’m getting. And I disagree."

Check out Aljamain Sterling's take on Dricus du Plessis vs. Khamzat Chimaev refereeing controversy:

Aljamain Sterling

@funkmasterMMA

That’s such subjective thing to interfere with. You’re basically saying if you FEEL a way and the opponent is unskilled enough to change their losing position, that the ref can and should interfere? Thats what I’m getting. And I disagree.

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Dricus du Plessis' coach slams Marc Goddard

While many feel Marc Goddard was wrong to stand up Dricus du Plessis at UFC 319, 'Stillknocks'' coach Morne Visser, on the other hand, believes the referee didn't do enough and should've broken the grappling stalemate more often.

Speaking to Submission Radio after the pay-per-view, the CIT Performance Institute head honcho claimed that the referee's lack of urgency produced prolonged stretches of inactivity:

"I think we could have done a lot better, but I also think the ref should have done better... I do think the referee should have just made that fight a bit more live... "[Chimaev] just did enough... to keep the ref [from] not letting the fight stand up. But I think when it goes that slow for 20 seconds, first warning, second warning, five seconds later, third, five seconds later, stand the fight up, man."