Francisco Trinaldo respects the job of a referee but he feels Herb Dean was late on stopping his bout with Jai Herbert.
Trinaldo shared the Octagon with Herbert in the featured preliminary bout on the UFC on ESPN 14 card. Herbert was having a solid performance until he got cracked with a punch and crashed down the canvas. It appeared Herbert was out of the fight, so Trinaldo didn’t throw a followup strike until he realized Dean wasn’t stopping the fight. Trinaldo landed some more punches before the bout was stopped, which enraged UFC color commentator Dan Hardy.
Trinaldo Believes Herb Dean Was Late On UFC on ESPN 14 Stoppage
Speaking to reporters following the UFC on ESPN 14 post-fight press conference, Trinaldo admitted he feels Dean could’ve stopped the fight sooner (h/t MMAJunkie).
“It could’ve been stopped earlier, but I’m a fighter, not a referee,” Trinaldo told reporters at the post-fight press conference. “I go there to do my job and the referee is the one in charge. I saw and stopped a little bit and waited, but the referee didn’t stop the fight so I continued on. The referee is in charge.”
The stoppage caused quite a stir within the MMA community. Hardy and Dean exchanged words after Trinaldo vs. Herbert. The UFC is looking into the incident. Dean doesn’t believe he stopped the fight too late and scolded Hardy for yelling “stop the fight,” as that could be mistaken for the doctor or a cornerman calling for an end to the bout.
Dean also made a questionable stoppage earlier in the night. Hardy and Paul Felder felt Dean was late in stopping the heavyweight clash between Tanner Boser and Raphael Pessoa. Boser won the bout via TKO.
