Herb Dean had one of the worst moments of his officiating career during the UFC 218 prelims.
Just as swangin’ n’ bangin’ began, Herb Dean stepped in a little early to call the violence party off.
While everyone was waiting for Eddie Alvarez and Justin Gaethje to bring the beautiful brutality on the main card, the welterweights on the early prelims showed everyone that the top lightweights don’t hold a monopoly on barnburners.
The fight between Abdul Razak Alhassan and Sabah Homasi was pure entertainment from the get-go with the tide changing a couple of times during the early exchanges on the feet. It appeared as though Alhassan was giving everyone a little breather by shifting his focus to grappling, but this turned out to only be the eye of the storm.
Once Alhassan pressed Homasi against the cage, he let his hands go with a flurry of devastating, balls-to-the-wall striking while showing a complete disregard for his own safety. Homasi responded with some mean shots of his own as the chaos unfolded.
A glancing shot to the temple sent Homasi to the mat which prompted Dean to step in and award Alhassan the first-round knockout victory. However, directly after the fight had ended, Homasi was straight to his feet to protest it. The relays showed that it was a poor stoppage as Homasi was still fully compos mentis and intelligently defending himself on the ground
Chaos!@JudoRazak stops @SabahHomasi at #UFC218… we think. pic.twitter.com/gmKFNaqXAp
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) December 3, 2017
Alhassan (8-1) bounced back from his split-decision defeat against Omari Akhmedov to improve his record inside the UFC’s Octagon to 2-1. Homasi (11-7) is still on the hunt for his first UFC win, but considering the controversy surrounding this one, he probably deserves another fight in the world’s largest MMA promotion.
After the fight, Homasi requested another UFC fight with his Octagon interview.
“He clipped me, I went down, but I was going for a takedown. I was working the whole time. As soon as I got hit, I felt the hit, I went down and I went for my takedown. It is what it is. I just got to get back in here and do it again.”
Unsurprisingly, it was Dean’s performance that was the talk of Twitter after the fight.
Uh oh. Herb Dean might have messed up on that stoppage. Homasi was face down, but it looked like he was working for a takedown. #UFC218
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) December 3, 2017
Replay confirms a poor stoppage from Dean. Not clear how badly Homasi was dropped and, worse, it was clear he was still pursuing the scramble, albeit tired.
— Luke Thomas🏋️♀️ (@lthomasnews) December 3, 2017
Oh no. Herb Dean just stopped a fight Sabah Homesi was still very much in. Two guys banging it out along the fence, Homesi went to a knee and was grabbing Abdul Alhassan's leg when Dean inexplicably stepped in.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) December 3, 2017
Herb Dean was in a bad position to make that stoppage. Not his best call.
— Ben Fowlkes (@benfowlkesMMA) December 3, 2017
Poor call from Herb, Homasi was hurt but definitely still in there. #UFC218
— Niall McGrath (@niallmcgrath4) December 3, 2017
