Herb Dean doubles down on controversial Adriano Moraes vs. Phumi Nkuta ruling: ‘The right decision was made’

There was a lot of buzz around the first MMA event from Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions on Netflix this past Saturday. While most of the night went off without a hitch, it wouldn’t have been a debut MMA show without a bit of controversy.

On the preliminary portion of the card, former ONE Championship flyweight titleholder Adriano Moraes scored a stunning Hail Mary submission win over Phumi Nkuta. Presumably down on the scorecards, Moraes locked on a late rear-naked choke after a scramble, ultimately putting Nkuta to sleep with zero seconds left in the third round.

Veteran referee Herb Dean oversaw the action and ultimately ruled it a win for Moraes. Speaking on Monday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show,” he explained why.

“I’m certain that the right decision was made,” Dean told Uncrowned. “What I saw was, at the end, he got caught in a rear-naked choke. [Moraes] was palm-to-palm grip. I believe it was after the 10-second clapper, but it was right at the end. So he was giving it everything he’s got because here’s the opportunity.

“When I stopped the match, there was a fraction of a second where he held onto the choke [late], and because of that, I wasn’t exactly sure until I went and looked at a replay. For that situation, it’s not the new replay we have. For that situation, we’ve had the ability to do replay in the [California] rules because it was a fight-ending situation.”

From Dean’s vantage point, he knew minimal time was left on the clock. Nkuta was in survival mode with time dwindling, and essentially hung on before his body went limp. Dean said his own focus was entirely on watching the hand positions of each fighter, as he tried to gauge in real time where he’d enter to break the grip when necessary.

Had Nkuta survived for a split second more and gone unconscious after the bell, he could have still earned a decision win.

“I saw what his body did, but I wasn’t focused there,” Dean said. “Since I had time [after the fight], I wanted to make sure I got everything right, and when things happened in relation to the bell.

“I’m definitely sure he went unconscious before the bell, like a fraction of a second before the bell, then I went and stopped the fight. He grabbed for a fraction of a second and let go.

“We had time to look at it, and I think it seemed odd, but I wanted to take my time since the fight was already over and make sure I got all the information to make the right decision.”

It was a big outcome for Moraes. Not only did the former champion get back in the win column, but it was his first appearance after leaving his longtime home of ONE Championship.

As the quick aftermath of the fight unfolded, speculation arose that Moraes could be disqualified for holding onto the choke slightly longer than when the bell sounded. Dean said that was never an outcome up for consideration.

“I don’t think it was egregious enough for me to disqualify him,” Dean said.

“Each fight is the most important fight of your career, and you have seconds to lock something in. Who knows where he went? He’s fighting for everything, for his whole career, and giving it everything he’s got. Sometimes it takes a second for someone to realize it’s over.”

As one of the longest-tenured referees in MMA, Dean is also a strong contributor to the sport’s behind-the-scenes changes over the years. Regarding some of the newer rule adjustments, a focus is being placed on language around foul assessment.

Per the California State Athletic Commission’s executive director, Andy Foster, there is an upcoming vote to clarify that referees are the sole arbiters of all fouls, with the authority to issue warnings, take points, and hand out disqualifications. They’re also able to adjust or restart certain positions while assessing the severity of fouls, based on factors such as the foul’s effect, infraction frequency and degree of fault. Deliberate and reckless acts will also be determined by referees specifically.

Dean used former UFC heavyweight Paul Buentello as a prime example, noting that Buentello’s case has been used as a prime example in past rules meetings.

Dean believes this particular issue is overdue to amend.

“Paul Buentello gamed it in a UFC fight [with the old downed fighter rule], and I told him, ‘Hey, no. You’re playing games. I’m not going to call that. Keep fighting.’ So that’s what we started calling it: Playing the game,” Dean said. “The way that rule was set up — fighters are smart. Some of them know the rules, and there’s room to game there. So you don’t want to have things like that where the referees not the sole arbiter and there’s room to game.

“This needed to be addressed for a long time. It was confusing, and also, the referee was the sole arbiter except in this situation. So you’re saying you’re the sole arbiter, but [the commission] is saying what you have to do, and there’s like a kind of a chain with ‘if, then, must.’

“The way I taught it in my referee course, I would teach it with like a flow chart that people could figure out what they’re supposed to do,” Dean continued. “The thing about it is, we’ve had that for a long time, and it’s the thing that’s most gamed. So the grounded opponent [rule] was always gamed, but I always wanted to change this because it was two rules that were actually being gamed — it was the grounded opponent and drawing the foul, then, when it was ruled intentional, then things would happen. Fighters have been gaming that for a long time.”