Herb Dean gives his side of Alvarez-Poirier controversy
Herb Dean: “I knew that Eddie couldn’t see whether [Poirier’s] knee was down or not – that’s why I ruled it unintentional.”
Refereeing mixed martial arts is an odd field, in that if you do everything perfectly, no one remembers you were there. At UFC 211 everyone remembered Herb Dean calling Eddie Alvarez vs. Dustin Poirier a No Contest, after Alvarez landed three illegal knees on Poirier. The knees were each illegal under the old Unified Rules, which are still in force in Texas; under the new rules, only the final one would have been illegal, and the NC would be easier to understand.
However, Dean, one of the greatest refs in the history of MMA, now gives his side of the episode to Steven Marrocco and Matt Erickson for MMAjunkie. His rationale is simple – Dean does not believe Alvarez intentionally kneed Poirier when he was down. Nor does Dean believe Poirier was playing the game, trying to avoid knees to the head by keeping a hand down.
I would have disqualified him if I believed they were intentional, said Dean. How I rule I knew that Eddie couldn’t see whether [Poirier’s] knee was down or not – that’s why I ruled it unintentional.
There’s a lot going on in there, and that’s why [referees] give people a little bit of leeway with some of those rules. I reserve ‘intentional’ for someone acting out of the rules and being a bad guy, and they need to be disqualified. I don’t think [Alvarez] was trying to be a bad person. I think he was trying to fight within the rules – it’s just that it’s difficult.
Poirier is contesting the No Contest, and Dean is not taking it personally. And all parties agree that instant replay would be useful, although in this case, Dean said Saturday it would not have made a difference.
I saw the knee was down, I saw him hit him – so it was pretty evident to me, said Dean. … I can’t think of a reason not to have a source of information available to you. Every way you can possibly get information to make the right call, to try to do the best job you can for these guys, that’s what I’m about.
However, Dean’s statement is difficult to square with the conversation he had with UFC VP for regulation Marc Ratner below, where the ref said the first knees were legal and he was ruling it a No Contest as only the final knee was illegal.
Referees do the most vital, thankless job in MMA and Dean is among the best ever. If he did something wrong, it is not because he is competent, it is because he is human.