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Mixed martial arts referee Herb Dean is one of the most respected and recognized officials in the sport, and he built that reputation not just through his stern judgment but also through his athletic past.
Dean is a former MMA fighter and someone who has trained extensively in Brazilian jiu-jitsu to augment his style. So when he began officiating at ONE Championship, Dean couldn’t help but admire the promotion’s aggressive push of submission grappling.
ONE Championship is on an incessant drive to promote submission grappling into the mainstream, and it recently crowned its first world champion in the sport.
Mikey Musumeci made history when he beat Cleber Sousa via unanimous decision to become the inaugural ONE flyweight submission grappling world champion at ONE on Prime Video 2.
Herb Dean, who witnessed the match circle-side, said in an interview with ONE Championship:
“I also really like the fact that they’re pushing submission wrestling and giving these guys a home because that’s something near and dear to me. I think that’s something that everyone can do as a sport. You know, your kids can do it, everyone can do it, so I’d like to see that sport being promoted and that’s a really cool thing.”
Dean was the referee in the main event of ONE on Prime Video 2, which featured the trilogy bout between rivals Xiong Jing Nan, the ONE women’s strawweight world champion, and Angela Lee, the ONE women’s atomweight world champion.
Herb Dean loves ONE Championship’s development of multiple disciplines
ONE Championship has always prided itself as the home of martial arts, and Herb Dean can attest to that.
Dean recently began officiating matches for the promotion, and while he’s usually assigned to MMA, the 52-year-old got to watch the best strikers in Muay Thai and kickboxing.
He also got to witness the incredible rise of submission grappling in ONE Championship. In the same interview, he said:
“What I really like a lot is the fact that it’s the home for martial arts in general. So I get to see top-level Muay Thai, top-level kickboxing, and it’s high-level guys, the best of the best, which is not something I’m always going to get to see at a show. So I really like that format.”
