Jorge Masvidal has a lot to be annoyed about after his one-sided loss to Colby Covington at UFC 272. Not least among them is referee Herb Dean, who Masvidal described after the fight as “not my cup of tea”.
Colby Covington was pulled up both for a groin shot and an egregious eye poke during the course of the fight, and Masvidal feels that he should have received more acknowledgement of such a blatant foul.
Masvidal Slams Herb Dean’s UFC 272 Refereeing
“The eye poke was pretty bad, man. The only thing that’s hurting on me right now is the fuckin’ eye poke. My eye’s still throbbing right now. I’ve had a couple mishaps with Herb Dean. I just don’t get it why he didn’t fix the action. [Covington] threw a punch, missed, and then he immediately just jabbed me in the fuckin’ eyeball.
I’m not gonna take nothin’ away (from) him winning the fight because that was just one sequence; it would’ve been cool if he would’ve stopped it there and I would’ve got my fuckin’ breather and then we restart because he poked the shit out of my eye, and it’s still throbbin’ right now.
That’s the only thing that’s hurting on me.” Herb Dean could have deducted a point from Colby Covington in the wake of a flagrant foul. He didn’t, and Jorge Masvidal was far from surprised to see it.
“No, I wasn’t surprised at all. I was just surprised that after the eye poke in the first round that he didn’t just break it up and address it. Like, that position wouldn’t have happened had he not poked me in the eye.
So it’s whatever. It’s Herb Dean stuff. Everybody here could—if you’ve seen fighting, you’ve seen Herb Dean have numerous hiccups. I’m not gonna blame the fight on him, but he’s not my cup of tea when it comes to refereeing.”
This isn’t the first time Herb Dean’s refereeing has come under fire. Dean is one of the most experienced referees in the sport, and often takes on top-tier fights like UFC 272’s main event. Accordingly, he is often the subject of controversy for his refereeing choices in the Octagon.
Jorge Masvidal is currently riding a three-fight losing streak, including consecutive losses to welterweight champion Kamaru Usman. This comes after his record-breaking ascent in 2019, which included landmark victories over Ben Askren, Darren Till, and Nate Diaz. Do you think Masvidal is right about Herb Dean? Let us know in the comments.
