Herb Dean Defends "Controversial" Stoppage in Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson Fight

Quote :

To step in or not to step in, that’s the question. According to Herb
Dean, who UFC president Dana White has dubbed as “The best referee in
the business,” his split-second decision to stop Dan Henderson from
mauling Fedor Emelianenko on Saturday night was justified.

“I saw Dan hit Fedor with a shot, Fedor fell down flat on his face,
face down, his palms were facing up and I saw Dan continuing to punch,”
Dean said Monday on The MMA Hour. “He hit him with, I believe, three punches, and I didn’t see Fedor doing any movement.

“It seemed to me he was unconscious. I came in to stop the fight.”

This indeed appears to be true. If you were to remove your Fedor
fanboy goggles for just a moment, you’ll see the Russian was clearly
asleep when he face planted into the canvas after eating an unexpected
uppercut.

Emelianenko did regain consciousness after he received additional
damage, but it was as though Henderson knocked Fedor’s senses back into
him.

“When I made my decision to stop the fight, Fedor was face down,
unconscious. When I touched Dan, Fedor was still face down. Once I touch
him the fight is over,” Dean reiterated. “Fedor was unconscious and
unable to defend himself.”

Once Dean decided he’d seen enough, it was a wrap. It’s not as though
he could change his mind while pulling Henderson off of Emelianenko,
then he’d be getting ridiculed for his indecisiveness, which would
clearly have been a far worse crime to commit.

The other controversy surrounding the conclusion of the blockbuster
bout were the follow up shots Henderson unleashed on what appeared to be
the back of Emelianenko’s head. While the strikes were borderline
illegal, Dean claims the action was far too fast and furious to be able
to dissect without the benefit of instant replay.

“I saw punches that may have been close, but I wouldn’t have called
those fouls because the way the action was moving.” Dean added. “I
couldn’t say that he intentionally targeted that area.”

5th Round


I can't believe some of the stuff Im reading on Sherdog and a few other sites, "He was turning ready to defend himself" , "If you watch, his hand gets trapped behind him, when Dan pushes him down."
LMAO What the fuck ever! The dude not only faceplanted... but he faceslid for about a foot! He was out and got Jardined back into it and as Herb said, when he touched Dan and jumped in Fedor was out. What do you guys think was it a justified stoppage?

It was justified, which seems to be an increasingly rare event these days. Everyone wants to piss and complain about every stoppage unless a MF'er is dead. And once that happens, it'll be everyone screaming "late stoppage, send Herb to jail for accessory to murder!!!". STFU and watch the fight.

Yea good stoppage alright. Fedor went limp and faceplanted, that's a textbook flash KO. Hendo's next few punches may have woken him up but a KO is a KO, there's no time requirement...