Former UFC referee Mario Yamasaki reveals he thinks Herb Dean should have stopped the Francisco Trinaldo vs Jai Herbert fight earlier than he did.
The catchweight fight between Trinaldo and promotion newcomer Herbert ended in controversy when the Brazillian appeared to KO Herbert, but referee Herb Dean was reluctant to stop the fight until the 41-year-old landed a couple more strikes on his downed opponent.
The move led to former UFC fighter Dan Hardy, who was commentating the fight, screaming at Dean to stop the fight, before the two got into a little confrontation afterwards.
Former UFC referee Yamasaki, is known for making a number of late stoppages himself in the past - including the famously late stoppage during the Valentina Shevchenko vs. Priscila Cachoeira fight in February 2018 that led to his blacklisting from the organisation.
Yamasaki believes Dean was late stopping the fight, but didn't agree with Hardy's actions, telling AG Fight:
“On TV it looks like it should have stopped before, but it only knows who is inside. He’s in the eye of the storm, seeing everything up close, the fighter’s reaction, his eyes. So it’s hard to say, he saw things that we didn’t see. As for Hardy, he should have a little more class and not confront him right there. They stayed at the same hotel, I would have waited to speak to him. I don’t care, because I focus and don’t let it affect me in the comments. But it can affect (the performance) yes, depending on the referee."
“Yes (it happened to me), with Matt Hughes when I was in the corner and thought I stopped it late. He entered the Octagon to get satisfaction. But the fighter was his opponent.”
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