Daniel Cormier has shared an extremely debatable idea that Herb Dean made a mistake in the main event of UFC 300 between Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill.
The majority of MMA fans would undoubtedly agree that referee Herb Dean made no critical mistakes in the light heavyweight title fight between Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira and Jamahal ‘Sweet Dreams’ Hill – yet there’s reportedly a subsection of fans who think that a key error led to the finishing sequence.
Alex Pereira earns first-round stoppage over Hill at UFC 300
Alex Pereira successfully defended his light heavyweight world championship in the main event of UFC 300 this past weekend as he knocked out former champion Jamahal Hill in the very first round.
The finishing sequence was as devastating as it was unique, with Hill landing a low shot on Pereira before the Brazilian waved away referee Herb Dean as he tried to call a pause to the action – only to land the brutal KO blow only a few seconds later.
Whilst it appears that the vast majority of the MMA community has unanimously agreed that there was no issue with the stoppage itself, former double champion Daniel Cormier has revealed a conversation with Hill that seems to suggest the opposite.
Daniel Cormier suggests idea that ‘referee error’ led to stoppage
In conversation with Ben Askren via his official YouTube channel, Daniel Cormier shared that he had spoken to Jamahal Hill in the aftermath of UFC 300 and that he might now be seeing the finish differently as a result.
“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.”
Cormier noted that ‘Sweet Dreams’ had initially spoken about the foot placement and range of Poatan, but also that there was a suggestion that Herb Dean should have separated Hill and Pereira over a wider distance before allowing the fight to restart following the low shot:
“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.”
The former double champ claimed that “I’m not taking a side on this field,” instead playing devil’s advocate in suggesting that “When an illegal strike happens, they separate the athletes, they come back together, and then the fight restarts.”
“Whereas in that moment, it felt like Alex said, ‘I’ve got my timing, I’ve got my foot placement’, he went and landed – but they feel like they were much closer than they should have been.”
While replays show that Pereira and Hill were indeed only separated by a small distance after the low shot, Herb Dean only made a slight motion toward the fighters and did not call the necessary time out needed for a restart. The pair also touched gloves before the KO shot landed.
Ben Askren dismisses the idea that they should’ve been separated more
Unsurprisingly, this unexpected take has not been received well by the MMA community online, with Ben Askren himself dismissing the idea that Dean had made any type of error in the UFC 300 main event.
“I don’t hate it not being a restart because it wasn’t like Jamahal was the one that got illegally kicked,” said the former ONE championship king, before reiterating the single most important rule in MMA:
“One of the first things that they tell you when you step in the cage is to protect yourself at all times.”
“I thought Herb never got that close to being in between them, he made a motion and then Pereira waved him off and he stepped back…My general feeling on that fight was that Jamahal Hill was a little too confident saying he was going to stand with him.”
“When [Pereira] hits people they go down, and that’s what Jamahal Hill should have been a little more worried about,” said Askren.
After the knockout victory at UFC 300, Alex Pereira called for a place on the UFC 301 card next month in Brazil, even teasing a move up to heavyweight in order to make that happen.