Herb Dean had already drawn the anger of Alex Pereira once before for failing to stop Ciryl Gane from landing illegal shots to the back of his head during their UFC Freedom 250 co-main event. Now, the former two-division champion has found another reason to blast the veteran referee following his recent controversial officiating during the UFC Baku co-main event last night.

Michel Pereira and Shara Magomedov engaged in a highly anticipated middleweight battle at UFC Baku last night. During the fight, ‘Bullet’ repeatedly tried to grab Pereira’s hair during the grappling exchanges, which Herb Dean noticed. The veteran referee warned Shara’s corner between rounds that he would deduct a point if the Russian continued committing fouls. Despite that warning, Shara later poked the Brazilian in the eye, but Dean chose not to take away a point and instead paused the action. In the end, the Russian fighter won the bout via unanimous decision. However, Herb Dean’s officiating once again came under scrutiny, and Alex Pereira took to the opportunity to label the referee a “coward.”

“Herb Dean Coward,” ‘Poatan’ wrote on his Instagram story while sharing a highlight from the UFC Baku fight.

Pereira’s reaction to Herb Dean’s controversial officiating is definitely not surprising. The Brazilian legend has been on a tirade against the veteran referee after he allowed Ciryl Gane to land illegal punches and elbows to the back of his head, even urging the promotion not to allow Dean to officiate any more UFC fights. In fact, Pereira hopes to file an appeal with the athletic commission over the referee’s inability to ensure rules were followed during his fight with the Frenchman. But ‘Poatan’ is far from the only one who noticed the issue in the UFC Baku co-main event.

Michel Pereira also spoke out about Herb Dean’s highly disputed officiating, once again pointing out that the 55-year-old ignored the rules.

“In MMA, there are rules,” Michel Pereira wrote on social media. “They must be applied with the same level of rigor to everyone. Respecting the rules means protecting the integrity of the sport and ensuring justice inside the Octagon. My opponent was warned several times and was not punished. When a rule is ignored, the result is compromised. Where’s the criterion, @herbdeanmma?” 

Other than the fighters, veteran MMA journalist Adam Martin also felt Herb Dean fell short during the co-main event and wrote on X that he would “refuse” to step inside the cage with Dean officiating if he were a fighter. With that, Dean has now found himself at the center of controversy in multiple events, the previous one being Andre Fili’s complaints about back-of-the-head shots at UFC Vegas 119 just last week.

During the Pereira-Dean saga, the former two-division champion’s stance has received support from fighters such as Alexander Volkanovski. But a section of the fanbase believes Pereira is not taking the loss well and is unfairly holding Dean solely responsible for the result.

Recently, a fan criticized Pereira on Instagram, feeling that the Brazilian has gone too far with his disdain towards the veteran referee who also happens to be a former fighter. After that, the former two-division champion replied to the fans’ post claiming that he’s making the nonsense video just to farm engagement.

“You sit on your chair, talking nonsense, waiting for me to respond, like now, to make a video of my response to get engagement, kkkkk. Man, my biggest concern right now is knowing how I’m going to protect the money I earned just in this fight.”

Following that, popular MMA social media account Dovy Simu MMA posted a picture of Pereira and asked, “Has your opinion on Alex Pereira changed?” Josh Hokit reposted it with a simple reply, “No.”

However, the Californian also hilariously trolled Herb Dean.

Josh Hokit trolls Herb Dean while calling out Ciryl Gane   

When it comes to the controversy surrounding Alex Pereira and Herb Dean, Josh Hokit has remained relatively quiet despite his ongoing beef with ‘Poatan’. Yet, when the 28-year-old finally decided to weigh in on the issue, he did so while maintaining his animated persona.

‘The Incredible Hok’ even said he wants Dean to officiate his potential fight against the interim champ Ciryl Gane, joking that the Frenchman’s foul shots wouldn’t do anything to him.

“The Incredible Hok’s eyes would break Ciryl Gane’s fingers, and the back of my head would shatter his elbow,” Hokit posted on X. “I insist that Herb ref our fight.”

To be fair, Herb Dean already officiated Hokit’s fight against Derrick Lewis at UFC White House, and that contest went smoothly. However, the veteran referee has recently found himself at the center of several controversies, especially involving foul shots. In that case, the Californian could also end up on the wrong side of a controversial decision in the future.

With Herb Dean being called out so frequently over his officiating, it will be interesting to see whether the athletic commission addresses the criticism and if it leads to any changes in the way he oversees a fight.