ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - JULY 26: UFC fighter and analyst Dan Hardy speaks with referee ... [+]
Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesDan Hardy was not a happy man.
Hardy, a former UFC title challenger and current member of the UFC broadcast team, was livid with how referee Herb Dean handled the ending sequence of the Francisco Trinaldo vs. Jai Herbert contest at last nights’s UFC on ESPN 14 fight card on Fight Island.
Paul Felder joined Hardy in his anger. The current UFC fighter also works commentary for the promotion.
Trinaldo dropped Herbert in the third round. Herbert’s body language after he hit the mat said he didn’t want to continue to fight. Seeing that, Trinaldo stopped striking. Meanwhile, Dean did not wave off the contest, which forced Trinaldo to throw — and land — several punches before Dean stopped the contest.
“I’m gonna give a lot of credit to Trinaldo in that moment right there. He could’ve just started teeing off, but he saw what we saw, and that fight should’ve been stopped,” Felder said.
“He does not want anymore shots in that moment,” Hardy said upon seeing the replay. “That fight was over. That’s terrible.”
“That pisses me off,” Felder added. “You know, that’s not normally Herb. Herb is usually a fine referee, but tonight that’s two calls now where I think the fight should’ve been stopped. That’s even worse. Herbert had a beautiful performance. He’s a young guy making his debut, and Trinaldo rocks him. He falls back the way he falls back like a board. He was out.”
Hardy and Dean then exchanged words after the referee left the octagon.
At the post-fight press conference, UFC senior vice president David Shaw addressed the issue.
“I wasn’t on the floor when it happened,” Shaw said. “I did hear some of the comments on the broadcast. Here’s the thing: Being a ref in MMA is one of the hardest roles that you can have, and Herb Dean is one of our best, categorically. (The) bottom line is, health and safety of the athletes is of paramount importance. On the other side, you’ve got a guy like Hardy who, very successful MMA career, an excellent analyst right now, but he’s passionate, and he’s fiery.”
“The important thing for us to do is to try and get a handle and try to get an understanding of what actually happened. Obviously, this is not something that you address with either one of the parties during the show. These guys have a job to do, and so we certainly don’t want to disrupt their efforts to do an excellent job, as we expect they always will. So we’ll go back, we’ll check it out, try to get a better understanding of what happened and really take it from there.”
Hardy addressed the issue on Sunday via social media.
I love Mixed Martial Arts. Sometimes it doesn’t love me back though, and that’s alright. Regardless, I’ll always do everything in my power to protect it, and those dedicating themselves to it.
Sometimes you may disagree with me, and that’s alright as well. I’m always going to speak my mind, and it will always be backed by what I feel in my heart.
If you understand what it takes to get in there, then you understand my passion and anger when I see a fighter left unprotected. It isn’t the first time it’s happened, and twice in a night is clear negligence, in my opinion.
The referees job is more important than any other person in that building. It is on their shoulders to protect fighters from getting seriously hurt when they are unable to protect themselves.
You may just see UFC fighters in there, but I see friends, teammates, sons, daughters, mothers and fathers, competing in the sport that they love.
When I make a mistake, I look stupid on live TV. When a referee makes a mistake, people are left vulnerable and can be seriously damaged. That can be life-changing, and we all have someone to go home to, that loves us and wants us back in one piece.
Thank you for all of the kind words and messages I’ve received. I am truly grateful. I’ll see you all around… ♥️
Dean was critical of Hardy after the event.
“After the match I followed up, I asked the physician he said, ‘No, that fight was fine. You were doing perfectly fine with everything you did in that match,’” Dean said on a video he posted on Instagram. “I didn’t get a chance to ask his corner, but I asked the inspectors, who are in charge of his corner. They said, ‘No. The corner did not yell out to stop the match.’ That means it was someone else, someone else there to do a job. This is a very dangerous thing to do. If you put on your Superman shirt and decide that you’re the smartest person in the room, smarter than the physician, smarter than the corner who works with the guy and smarter than the referee, there’s a chance you could bring in information that could do the fighter a disservice.”
“I’m looking at the match, I believe I’m getting information from the people qualified to do it. Under no circumstance would I, even as a referee, get up and yell to another referee to stop the match. If I were to do that I would know there would be a situation where I couldn’t live with myself otherwise. I know there could be consequences you would never see me in that position again, but I would sleep well knowing that I’d done that.”
The Link LonkJuly 27, 2020 at 05:46AM
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Dan Hardy And Herb Dean Battle Over UFC On ESPN 14 Stoppage - Forbes
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