Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor’s post-fight brawl was one of the ugliest scenes in MMA history.
After months of bitter build-up, ‘The Eagle’ defended his lightweight title by tapping out McGregor in the fourth round of their fight at UFC 229 in October 2018.
However, the fighting wasn’t over. Nurmagomedov scaled the cage to confront Dillon Danis, who was a part of the Irishman’s corner team for the fight.
After that, all hell broke loose as multiple people took part in a mass brawl that led to Nurmagomedov and McGregor receiving bans and fines for their behavior.
Herb Dean recalls UFC 229 brawl
Legendary referee Herb Dean was the man in the middle at UFC 229.
Dean has often been branded ‘the gold standard’ of MMA officiating, but even he had trouble containing the two UFC superstars during their fight.
There was lots of trash talk and a refusal to disengage at the end of rounds. Nurmagomedov held onto his submission for longer than he should have before getting dragged off by the ref and deciding to direct his anger at somebody else.
For Dean, once the Russian phenom had hopped over the Octagon wall, the situation was no longer something he felt he could or should try to contain.
“When it first started, [Nurmagomedov’s] holding on to the choke. I get him to let go, he’s still on [McGregor],” Dean said on the JAXXON podcast.
“I’m kind of standing in between them, and then all of a sudden, he’s over talking at somebody else. I think I probably tried to chase him and tried to keep him from going out or something.
“Once it got to that point, I’m like, ‘This is beyond my job. This is everybody else’s job. My job is done.’”
Herb Dean defended his refereeing after UFC 306
Even though he’s one of the best in the game, Dean often finds himself in the firing line as fans and commentators question his decision-making in the big moments.
The 54-year-old became an unlikely talking point after Merab Dvalishvili outpointed Sean O’Malley over five rounds to take his bantamweight title at UFC 306 in September.
Dean stopped the action around 20 seconds in to warn O’Malley’s corner for excessive coaching. Later in the bout, the referee was called to action again when ‘The Machine’ infamously began to kiss the neck of O’Malley whilst he had him in a guillotine.
In round five, Dean’s decision to call for more work was criticized by the commentators, but he has since defended all three of his controversial UFC 306 calls.
He said about the ‘excessive coaching’ incident: “It happens, and we do address it and it’s been happening for as long as the sport’s been here.
“And even coaching the referee through the fighter, ‘Okay well Herb’s gonna stand you up because all he wants to do is hold you and he’s a boring b****-ass wrestler’
Dean added about the infamous kiss: “That does fall into unsportsmanlike conduct… abusive language, things like that you’re not supposed to do. It was a little bit romantic, yeah, a little too much romance.
The former fighter concluded by explaining his stance on stalling.
Dean said: “I can tell you what I tell the fighters in the rules briefing. I tell them anytime I’m interfering or intervening, I’m gonna talk to you first like if I’m gonna stand it up and when I’m gonna say first, ‘Let’s work’. I usually clap and what I’m expecting from them is not busy work, I’ve specified.
“I’m looking for effort to finish the fight, so you’re either to posture to where you can potentially throw fight-ending attacks or advance your position. Those rules are there to make our sport look the way we want it to look.”