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I looked at three fighters widely viewed by the UFC to be up and coming marketing stars who then became champions (Conor + Jon + Sean) then I looked at what refs those people got in their fights. The timeline goes from their most recent fight back to when they were first viewed as an emerging star. Notes in green mark specific events that may have changed the UFC's outlook towards that fighter. I can't figure out if there's a pattern but maybe you can help me by looking at the timelines:
CONOR:
Dustin 3 – HERB (couldn’t save him, but he did coddle Conor on the ground whispering to him “it’ll all be ok” like he was married to him afterwards)
Dustin 2 – HERB (Dustin complained post-fight about Herb’s bias allowing Conor to cheat in-cage)
Cerrone – HERB (arguably the one time Herb wasn’t even needed, but he was there anyway)
Khabib – HERB (arguably most documented instance of fight doctoring via a ref allowing cheating... possibly in all of MMA history)
Eddie – Big John
Diaz 2 – Big John
Diaz 1 - HERB
Aldo – Big John
Mendes – HERB (he made repeated critiques of Chad whenever he got Conor down about how Chad had to “watch fingers”)
Siver – HERB
Dustin 1 – HERB
CONOR VERDICT: 100% of all fights in the past 6 years have been Herb Dean. 73% of all fights in the last decade (8 out of 11). 100% of all controversial fights (involving reffing) have included Dean.
JON:
Gane - Goddard
Reyes – Mirg (don't worry, Herb wasn't there but the judges were)
Santos – HERB (don’t worry, Herb couldn’t determine the ending but the judges could)
Smith – HERB (if Smith tried to milk the DQ win and pull an Aljo I bet my life savings Herb would have overruled it)
***Around this time Jones states that he doesn’t want Beltran or Big John to ref his fights any longer***:
www.pressconnects.com
““I have not (made any requests), but I’ve had some (expletive) situations happen in there,” Jones said. “I felt like I’ve had guys that were very obviously not on my side in that ring”” He never gets either ref ever again. To compensate him, his next 2 fights he gets the pre-151 treatment and gets… you guessed it… Dean.
Gus 2 - Beltran
DC 2 – Big John
***UFC 200 falls apart due to Jon testing positive for steroids / goes back in the doghouse and notice who isn't his ref any longer...***
OSP – HERB (Originally scheduled to be Jon vs DC 2 / DC petitioned to have Herb removed as ref: https://www.foxsports.com/stories/u...but-herb-dean-will-referee-ufc-197-main-event)
DC 1 – HERB
***Jon is promoted as legend in lead-up to DC fight / he comes out of the UFC doghouse***
Glover – Mirg
Alex 1 – Big John
Sonnen – short guy whose name I don’t know
Belfort – Big John
***Jon refuses to fight at UFC 151 vs Hendo / Dana publicly blames him for the event collapsing / Herb then mysteriously stops reffing Jones fights***
Rashad – HERB
Machida – Big John
Rampage - Rosenthal
Shogun - HERB
Bader – HERB
Vlad – HERB
Vera – HERB
JON VERDICT: Jon got Herb to ref 69% of his fights (9 out of 13) while he was in the UFC's good graces. He had Herb ref 0% of his fights (0 out of 6) while he was in the UFC doghouse. PS... I bet my life savings that Herb refs the Jon vs Stipe fight.
SEAN:
Merab – HERB (attempt to skew the fight if only Sean did anything better than get dominated 50-45. But the groundwork was laid… the 48-47 score card waiting for Sean to win a single round in order to give him the SD, the attempt by Herb to prep the point deduction after nonsensically saying “let’s work” 80 times while Merab was dominating)
Chito 2 – short guy (forget his name)
Aljo – HERB (early stoppage)
Yan – Herzog (don’t worry, Herb wasn’t there but the judges were)
Munhoz – Herzog
Paiva – Herzog
Moutinho – HERB / one of the most obvious examples of a doctored stoppage in MMA history. Moutinho losing but not hurt in the slightest. With mere seconds to go in the fight Herb inexplicably ends the fight despite Moutinho not being hurt, dropped, wobbled… NOTHING. Showed that literally all Sean needs is the right ref and to land any punch for a stoppage victory. Clear example of Herb "fight fixer" Dean changing the actual result (UD) to a KO for marketing purposes.
Almeida – some guy I don’t know
Chito 1 – HERB (couldn't save him there of course)
Wineland – HERB
SEAN VERDICT: 50% of all Sean fights since he became a star have been with Herb Dean. 100% of all controversial officiating (not counting judging) occurred with Dean.
There were 43 referees used by the UFC last year. 9 of them used frequently: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-referees-oversaw-most-fights-2023
Of those 43 referees, a single referee absolutely, utterly dominated the reffing for three superstars. That lone referee was responsible for nearly 100% of the controversies benefiting those superstars. There was never a single controversy that benefited the challenger to that marketing star.
I feel like there is a pattern here but I can't see it.
CONOR:
Dustin 3 – HERB (couldn’t save him, but he did coddle Conor on the ground whispering to him “it’ll all be ok” like he was married to him afterwards)
Dustin 2 – HERB (Dustin complained post-fight about Herb’s bias allowing Conor to cheat in-cage)
Cerrone – HERB (arguably the one time Herb wasn’t even needed, but he was there anyway)
Khabib – HERB (arguably most documented instance of fight doctoring via a ref allowing cheating... possibly in all of MMA history)
Eddie – Big John
Diaz 2 – Big John
Diaz 1 - HERB
Aldo – Big John
Mendes – HERB (he made repeated critiques of Chad whenever he got Conor down about how Chad had to “watch fingers”)
Siver – HERB
Dustin 1 – HERB
CONOR VERDICT: 100% of all fights in the past 6 years have been Herb Dean. 73% of all fights in the last decade (8 out of 11). 100% of all controversial fights (involving reffing) have included Dean.
JON:
Gane - Goddard
Reyes – Mirg (don't worry, Herb wasn't there but the judges were)
Santos – HERB (don’t worry, Herb couldn’t determine the ending but the judges could)
Smith – HERB (if Smith tried to milk the DQ win and pull an Aljo I bet my life savings Herb would have overruled it)
***Around this time Jones states that he doesn’t want Beltran or Big John to ref his fights any longer***:
Jon Jones on issues with officials: 'It won’t matter who's the referee' at UFC 247
Jon Jones defends his UFC light heavyweight title against Dominick Reyes on Saturday, Feb. 8.
www.pressconnects.com
Gus 2 - Beltran
DC 2 – Big John
***UFC 200 falls apart due to Jon testing positive for steroids / goes back in the doghouse and notice who isn't his ref any longer...***
OSP – HERB (Originally scheduled to be Jon vs DC 2 / DC petitioned to have Herb removed as ref: https://www.foxsports.com/stories/u...but-herb-dean-will-referee-ufc-197-main-event)
DC 1 – HERB
***Jon is promoted as legend in lead-up to DC fight / he comes out of the UFC doghouse***
Glover – Mirg
Alex 1 – Big John
Sonnen – short guy whose name I don’t know
Belfort – Big John
***Jon refuses to fight at UFC 151 vs Hendo / Dana publicly blames him for the event collapsing / Herb then mysteriously stops reffing Jones fights***
Rashad – HERB
Machida – Big John
Rampage - Rosenthal
Shogun - HERB
Bader – HERB
Vlad – HERB
Vera – HERB
JON VERDICT: Jon got Herb to ref 69% of his fights (9 out of 13) while he was in the UFC's good graces. He had Herb ref 0% of his fights (0 out of 6) while he was in the UFC doghouse. PS... I bet my life savings that Herb refs the Jon vs Stipe fight.
SEAN:
Merab – HERB (attempt to skew the fight if only Sean did anything better than get dominated 50-45. But the groundwork was laid… the 48-47 score card waiting for Sean to win a single round in order to give him the SD, the attempt by Herb to prep the point deduction after nonsensically saying “let’s work” 80 times while Merab was dominating)
Chito 2 – short guy (forget his name)
Aljo – HERB (early stoppage)
Yan – Herzog (don’t worry, Herb wasn’t there but the judges were)
Munhoz – Herzog
Paiva – Herzog
Moutinho – HERB / one of the most obvious examples of a doctored stoppage in MMA history. Moutinho losing but not hurt in the slightest. With mere seconds to go in the fight Herb inexplicably ends the fight despite Moutinho not being hurt, dropped, wobbled… NOTHING. Showed that literally all Sean needs is the right ref and to land any punch for a stoppage victory. Clear example of Herb "fight fixer" Dean changing the actual result (UD) to a KO for marketing purposes.
Almeida – some guy I don’t know
Chito 1 – HERB (couldn't save him there of course)
Wineland – HERB
SEAN VERDICT: 50% of all Sean fights since he became a star have been with Herb Dean. 100% of all controversial officiating (not counting judging) occurred with Dean.
There were 43 referees used by the UFC last year. 9 of them used frequently: https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-referees-oversaw-most-fights-2023
Of those 43 referees, a single referee absolutely, utterly dominated the reffing for three superstars. That lone referee was responsible for nearly 100% of the controversies benefiting those superstars. There was never a single controversy that benefited the challenger to that marketing star.
I feel like there is a pattern here but I can't see it.
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