UFC referee Herb Dean has been panned on social media for an extremely confusing stoppage in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Dean was inside the Octagon for the heavyweight clash between Marcos Rogerio de Lima and Ben Rothwell on the Max Holloway vs Yair Rodriguez 'Fight Night' card.
The co-main event lasted just 32 seconds however when de Lima unleashed on Rothwell and secured the swift TKO win.
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It would have been even quicker, however, had Dean done his job adequately. He had fans utterly perplexed when he stepped in for the stoppage but then seconds later looked to have changed his mind.
With Rothwell on the canvas and de Lima giving Dean a look, he did eventually waive off the bout.\
UFC president Dana White addressed Dean's actions and called for him to "pull the trigger" instead of hesitating.
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"Herb needs to stop touching guys unless the fight’s over," White said in the post-show press conference.
"He goes in and grabs him by the waist and then decides oops.
“The good thing about this one was, that fight should have been stopped when he stopped it and you didn’t see Ben jumping up and arguing about it. That fight should have been stopped but he’s got to pull the trigger and stop touching guys.
“Don’t touch ’em unless you’re going to stop the fight. When they played it back in slow motion, he’s kind of dancing, like he doesn’t know what to do, if he’s going to jump in or not jump in.
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“I like him personally, he’s a nice guy but he’s got to stop touching people until he’s ready to stop the fight.”
Featured Image Credit: Image: UFCTopics: UFC
