Schaub accuses Herb Dean of letting fighters foul freely after third straight UFC controversy

Brendan Schaub has called out referee Herb Dean for a pattern of failing to penalise fighters for fouls, pointing to Shara “Bullet” Magomedov’s unpunished hair pull at UFC Baku as the latest in a string of controversies surrounding the veteran official.

In the co-main event in Baku, Magomedov defeated Michel Pereira by decision in a largely subdued contest. The fight’s defining moment came in the opening round, when Pereira scored a knockdown and moved in for the finish. As Pereira pressed his attack on the ground, Magomedov grabbed his hair — a clear foul that Dean witnessed but chose not to punish with a point deduction.

Speaking on his Big Brown Breakdown podcast, Schaub was direct in his assessment. “The narrative on Magomedov’s fight against Michel Pereira, it’s not Shara Bullet,” he said. “It’s Herb Dean has once again inserted himself into the controversy. When you’re in that octagon, you’re the sheriff. You’ve got to make sure things are going according to code. He just doesn’t take responsibility.”

For Schaub, the Baku incident is not an isolated lapse but the third consecutive fight in which Dean has drawn serious criticism. At UFC White House, Dean refereed the interim heavyweight title bout between Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira, which Gane won by second-round knockout. Pereira subsequently accused Dean of allowing repeated back-of-the-head strikes and labelled him a “coward.” Around the same time, Andre Fili claimed Dean missed illegal blows to the back of his head during his loss to Vinicius Oliveira at UFC Vegas 119.

“This is three in a row,” Schaub said. “At some point, you have to insert yourself, and I just don’t understand why are you so scared to take a point? Why are you so scared?”

Schaub acknowledged that Dean was once regarded as the gold standard in MMA officiating, but argued his decision-making has deteriorated markedly. Dean has faced criticism over the years for both early and late stoppages, as well as a consistent reluctance to deduct points for fouls — a pattern Schaub says has now become impossible to ignore.

“In the Fili fight, the dude had a straight-up gash in an illegal spot in the back of the head and he’s bleeding, you do nothing,” Schaub said. “Then with Shara Bullet grabbing the hair, it’s like, what the f*ck are you doing, Herb? At some point, insert your authority.”