John McCarthy defends referee Herb Dean against critics of non-stoppage in UFC 300 main event: “Exactly what we would train”

Longtime MMA referee John McCarthy says Herb Dean did everything right in the UFC 300 main event.

Dean was the referee for the light heavyweight title fight that saw Alex Pereira defending his 205lbs title for the first time against former champ Jamahal Hill.

In the opening round, Hill kicked Pereira low and as Herb Dean went to step in and pause the action, ‘Poatan’ waved him off and just seconds later knocked the challenger out.

After the knockout, some fans complained that Dean was supposed to stop the fight, even for a brief second, and reset it, which could have played a role in Hill getting caught just seconds later. But, according to John McCarthy, Dean did everything perfectly:

It is inherently bad for the sport and unbelievably embarrassing to hear people who supposedly know the sport of MMA smear the actions of @HerbDeanMMA as if he was responsible for the knockout of @JamahalH @ufc 300.
Let’s make this as clear as possible for everyone. Herb was…

— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) April 18, 2024

“It is inherently bad for the sport and unbelievably embarrassing to hear people who supposedly know the sport of MMA smear the actions of @HerbDeanMMA as if he was responsible for the knockout of @JamahalH @ufc300. Let’s make this as clear as possible for everyone. Herb was perfect in the actions he took in allowing @AlexPereiraUFC to call off the timeout for the kick to the groin he took and then keep the action of the fight in motion. The fighter who is fouled by a strike to the groin is in control of how much time they need to take to sufficiently recover from the foul,” John McCarthy wrote on X.

“They have up to 5 minutes of time if they need it. Many times fighters do not want a stop in the action because they feel they have gained momentum in the fight and do not want to give any time to their opponent. Everything Herb Dean did was exactly what we would train any official to do under the same circumstances. Luckily we had an official in the cage who understands the rules and the mechanics needed to successfully manage a world title fight instead of the talking heads that guess at what is right or wrong,” McCarthy continued.

As John McCarthy writes, it is up to Alex Pereira and he made it clear that he did not need a break, so Herb Dean allowing the fight to continue at UFC 300 was the right call.