Jorge Masvidal wants Herb Dean out of the cage, and he didn’t bother softening it.
Appearing on The Deep Waters, the former welterweight title challenger and original BMF champion said Dean’s troubles this year are self-inflicted and that the veteran referee should be done officiating. Masvidal said Dean has done this to himself, that Pereira isn’t the problem, and that Pereira simply exposed what Dean has been doing for years. People are fed up, Masvidal said, and Dean has to go.
Then he got specific, and the specifics came from UFC 332.
Masvidal called Dean nervous every time and pointed straight at the Bobby Green fight, describing Dean sprinting at the fighters like he was about to stop it. He said he hates that, because a fighter can see the ref coming in his peripheral vision while he’s still locked in, and he’s left wondering whether the guy is going to stop it or not. Masvidal said Dean touches fighters all the time without actually stopping the fight, called him the most nervous referee in there, and said he doesn’t think Dean should be an official at all.
The UFC 332 stoppage
The fight Masvidal pointed to was a main card lightweight bout between King Green and Esteban Ribovics. Ribovics put Green down multiple times before Dean jumped in and waved it off. Green protested on the spot, and he had company: some watching thought Dean pulled the plug too early.
Even the boss didn’t argue with the premise. At the UFC 332 post-fight press conference, Dana White said Dean is having a rough year, and he threw an expletive in for emphasis. When the promoter who signs the checks is saying that into a microphone, the year has gone sideways.
Where the Dean backlash started
Not long ago, Dean was widely considered one of the better referees in MMA. That reputation has taken a beating in 2026. High-profile fighters and analysts have piled on, and fans have booed him at events.
The slide picked up speed at UFC Freedom 250, where Dean worked the interim heavyweight title fight between former two-division champion Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane. Gane finished Pereira in Round 2, but the finish appeared to include several illegal shots to the back of Pereira’s head. Pereira went public with his criticism of Dean and launched a petition to get him removed from officiating UFC fights. (An interim belt decided by blows to the back of the head is about as cursed as hardware gets.)
Masvidal is now openly in Pereira’s corner on this one, and his framing matters. He isn’t treating the Pereira fight as a one-off bad night. He’s arguing it pulled back the curtain on habits that have been there for years.
Quick take
Masvidal’s best point is the least flashy one. Any fan can argue early versus late on a stoppage, but a referee sprinting in, putting hands on a fighter and then not stopping it leaves both guys guessing in the worst possible moment, and Masvidal knows that from the inside. Dean has earned a lot of goodwill over a long career. Right now he’s spending it fast, and the guy who once made a living flying knees at people is the one telling him to slow down.
