Alex Pereira delivered a brutal left hook to Jamahal Hill at UFC 300 to successfully defend his UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. However, controversy ensued with what happened just seconds before Pereira’s strike. Many believe referee Herb Dean was at fault. Former UFC referee ‘Big’ John McCarthy came to the defense of the experienced UFC referee.
For context, Hill struck Pereira in the groin and Dean almost intervened to separate the fighters as Hill’s kick was illegal. The Brazilian fighter, however, asked Dean to not stop the fight and claimed that he was okay to continue. Dean moved away immediately and Pereira, within seconds, struck his signature left hook.
Alex Pereira waved off Herb Dean to stop the fight after taking a kick from Jamahal Hill.
Three seconds later, Pereira knocked him down with a left hook 👊
UNREAL 💥 #UFC300 pic.twitter.com/8szfz2frQn
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 14, 2024
According to many in the MMA world, Dean should have distanced the fighters more before letting them fight again. It is supposed that Hill was not on guard after Dean almost intervened and moved back. However, McCarthy has defended Dean’s decision. The former referee cited the provision that the fighter who was struck with the illegal blow has the right to take up to five minutes to recover. Similarly, he can take no time as well.
McCarthy wrote, “Let’s make this as clear as possible for everyone. Herb was perfect in the actions he took in allowing @AlexPereiraUFC to call off the timeout for the kick to the groin he took and then keep the action of the fight in motion.”
It is inherently bad for the sport and unbelievably embarrassing to hear people who supposedly know the sport of MMA smear the actions of @HerbDeanMMA as if he was responsible for the knockout of @JamahalH @ufc 300.
Let’s make this as clear as possible for everyone. Herb was…— Big John McCarthy (@JohnMcCarthyMMA) April 18, 2024
Further, McCarthy slammed those who had a different outlook. He wrote, “Luckily we had an official in the cage who understands the rules and the mechanics needed to successfully manage a world title fight instead of the talking heads that guess at what is right or wrong.”
Post-fight, Alex Pereira revealed his thought process while he was struck in the groin and still asked to continue fighting. Moreover, Daniel Cormier also commented on the matter.
Alex Pereira chose to continue the fight because he did not want to reset the distance
If Pereira had taken the break that Herb Dean offered him, the fighters would have had to reset the distance between them. This was exactly what Pereira did not want. He believed, in the moment, he was ready to strike Hill and did not want to start over.
“I was starting to find my distance,” Pereira said at the UFC 300’s post-fight press conference via a Portuguese translator, according to MMA Fighting. “I started using leg kicks from the beginning so I could find his distance. He’s a southpaw, so it’s a little harder.
“My game plan was to start throwing hands after that, so then he threw the groin shot, but it did not really hurt too much, so I chose to just keep pushing so I did not have to reset the distance. Capitalize on the moment.”
After Pereira struck the left hook successfully, he completed the win with a ground and pound. Hill stood no chance against the Brazilian after he was laid out on the canvas. Later, it was also spotted that Pereira stepped on Hill’s foot before striking him. Former two-division champion Daniel Cormier, however, does not agree with Harb Dean’s decision-making.
Daniel Cormier believes Herb Dean was at fault during the UFC 300 main event
DC was in conversation with Ben Askren on his official YouTube channel. The UFC commentator claimed he had spoken to Hill after UFC 300 and now he sees the main event’s ending differently.
“Jamahal Hill and I had a conversation yesterday, we’re talking about the fight and how it played out…I told him what I thought and then we went back and watched the fight and talked through it, and I saw some things a little differently after watching it with him,” DC said.
DC suggested that there needed to be more separation between the fighters before the restart.
“Here’s where the issue is…I ran it by my cousins and my nephews and they had the same idea: They thought that Herb Dean made a mistake because while we are all lost in the idea that Herb goes to step in, Alex puts his hand out, Herb steps back; [but] when you have an illegal strike, they are saying that they should have been separated [more] and then they come back together as a fresh restart.”
Former UFC fighter Ben Askren disagreed with Cormier and claimed that the fighters, once inside the Octagon, need to always have their guards on. When you see the clip again, Dean barely intervenes. Also, the fighters were spotted touching gloves before Pereira landed the KO blow.