{"id":88,"date":"2026-06-29T18:54:58","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/?p=88"},"modified":"2026-06-29T18:54:58","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T18:54:58","slug":"dana-white-alex-pereira-ufc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/2026\/06\/29\/dana-white-alex-pereira-ufc\/","title":{"rendered":"Dana White Says Herb Dean\u2019s Future Is Up to Athletic Commissions Amid Alex Pereira\u2019s Criticism\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is safe to say that Dana White wants nothing to do with the ongoing controversy surrounding Herb Dean after weeks of criticism from Alex Pereira. The debate has centered on the sequence that led to the finish of Pereira\u2019s interim heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250. Many fans and analysts have questioned <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/shorts\/fTvKrZuS9bA\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">whether six of the 11 strikes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that landed on the back of Pereira\u2019s head contributed to the outcome of the bout.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the aftermath, \u2018Poatan\u2019 publicly expressed his frustration with Dean, accusing the veteran referee of failing to intervene and even calling on the UFC to ensure Dean does not officiate any of his future fights. In a lengthy video statement, Pereira also revealed that he and his team had spoken with Dean and other officials before the contest, citing concerns about Gane\u2019s previous conduct inside the cage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/rc8878HlUmo?si=Ca7-cghW-uE6ATLm&amp;start=3\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/2026\/06\/28\/conor-mcgregor-venum-ufc-329\/\" target=\"_self\">Conor McGregor Unveils New \u2018Money\u2019 Themed Custom Venum Shorts Ahead of UFC 329 Comeback<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He later posted photos of the back of his head on social media, showing visible lumps that he claims were caused by the disputed blows. Calls for action against Dean intensified further following another controversial incident at <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/2026\/06\/29\/israel-adesanya-ufc-baku\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">UFC Baku<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. During Shara Magomedov\u2019s fight against Michel Pereira, Dean chose not to deduct a point despite Magomedov repeatedly pulling Pereira\u2019s hair while working from the bottom after being dropped.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Magomedov also accidentally poked Pereira in the eye before rallying to secure a unanimous decision victory. The result prompted another scathing response from the former two-division champion, who took to Instagram to label Dean a <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;coward&#8221;<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for his handling of the fight and refusal to penalize Magomedov for the repeated fouls.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The growing controversy eventually reached Dana White during the <\/span><a  href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MH2FInBtj4I\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zuffa Boxing 08 post-fight press conference<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, where the UFC CEO was asked whether Dean is still qualified to officiate at the highest level of the sport. He said, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I don&#8217;t know. I don&#8217;t know the answer to that question, but that&#8217;s not up to me. That&#8217;s up to the commission.&#8221;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, any decision regarding Dean\u2019s future as a referee would rest with the athletic commissions that license him, and Pereira would need to demonstrate a level of incompetence significant enough to warrant disciplinary action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">White was also asked about Pereira\u2019s reported plans to file an appeal. Responding to the question, the UFC bossman said, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;I heard about it. There is no MMA in my algorithm. Unless (the UFC PR director) tells me, I don&#8217;t know.&#8221;<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Dana White on the recent Herb Dean controversy:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t know. That\u2019s not up to me, that\u2019s up to the commission.<\/p>\n<p>There is no MMA in my algorithm.\u201d <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FhZ8tyW9jk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/FhZ8tyW9jk<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ChampRDS\/status\/2071439038750261577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 29, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While White largely sidestepped questions about Dean, he has not been shy about criticizing the veteran referee in the past. Over the years, White has openly questioned several of Dean\u2019s officiating decisions, including what he described as a horrible job during the light heavyweight title fight between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 in 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Apart from this, several of Dean\u2019s past officiating errors have come to light again. One of the most notable controversies came in 2020 during Francisco Trinaldo\u2019s fight against Jai Herbert. Dean drew widespread criticism for a late stoppage after Herbert appeared to be unconscious following a head kick. The delay allowed Trinaldo to land several unnecessary follow-up strikes before the referee stepped in, sparking an emotional cageside confrontation with commentator Dan Hardy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dean faced similar scrutiny in 2018 during Khalid Murtazaliev\u2019s bout against C.B. Dollaway. Many observers felt the fight should have been stopped much sooner, as Dollaway absorbed an extended barrage of ground-and-pound while offering little meaningful defense.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_89\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-89\" style=\"width: 5123px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/06\/USATSI_21384854.webp\" alt=\"Herb Dean at UFC 293\" width=\"5123\" height=\"3416\" class=\"size-full wp-image-89\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/06\/USATSI_21384854.webp 5123w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/06\/USATSI_21384854-768x512.webp 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/06\/USATSI_21384854-600x400.webp 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/36\/2026\/06\/USATSI_21384854-1200x800.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 5123px) 100vw, 5123px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-89\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Herb Dean at UFC 293 (via Imagn)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The criticism continued in 2019 when Dean officiated the fight between Ben Askren and Robbie Lawler. Dean halted the contest after believing Lawler had gone unconscious from a bulldog choke. However, Lawler immediately protested the stoppage, insisting he was still conscious and arguing that his thumbs-up gesture had been misread.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Pereira now joining a growing list of fighters and personalities, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/2026\/06\/28\/tom-aspinall-and-alex-pereira\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">including Jorge Masvidal and Tom Aspinall<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, who have publicly questioned Dean\u2019s decision-making in pivotal moments, scrutiny of one of MMA\u2019s most recognizable referees is unlikely to fade anytime soon.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is safe to say that Dana White wants nothing to do with the ongoing controversy surrounding Herb Dean after weeks of criticism from Alex Pereira. The debate has centered on the sequence that led to the finish of Pereira\u2019s interim heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250. Many fans and analysts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5886,"featured_media":72,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[42,41,46],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ufc","tag-alex-pereira","tag-dana-white","tag-herb-dean"],"modified_by":"Kshitiz Kumar Singh","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/91"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/mma\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}