Veteran referee Herb Dean is being heavily criticised for his performance at UFC Paris.
Fans told the iconic UFC official to step away from MMA after a ‘horrific stoppage’ on Saturday night.
Axel Sola was compared to Conor McGregor during his UFC debut by fighter-turned-commentator Michael Bisping.
Unfortunately, there was some controversy surrounding his first Octagon win over Rhys McKee.
John McCarthy defends UFC Paris stoppage
Axel Sola dropped Rhys McKee with a nasty body kick in the third round of their UFC Paris fight.
Herb Dean allowed a few follow-up punches to land before stepping in to wave things off.
Angry fans accused the iconic referee of intervening way too early, with some calling for his retirement.
In the eyes of legendary referee John McCarthy, the vitriol directed at his ex-colleague is unjust.
“I think they said it was a fast stoppage. I didn’t think so,” he said on the WEIGHING IN podcast he shares with former UFC fighter Josh Thomson.
“When you get hit to the body like Rhys McKee and you go down and you start to cover the way he’s covering, you are kind of saying the body shot has taken care of you.
“I can understand. It’s close, but I enjoyed watching the fight.”
Thomson added: “I thought it was a little early stoppage. I’m not mad at it.”
Herb Dean’s UFC Shanghai controversy
This is the second time in a matter of weeks that Herb Dean’s officiating has caused controversy.
The 54-year-old found himself in hot water for his performance at UFC Shanghai on August 23.
At one point during the co-main event, Brian Ortega indicated that he had been poked in the eye by Aljamain Sterling. Dean acknowledged that a fist had caused the issue, but he still stopped the fight and allowed ‘T-City’ time to recover.
Fuming fans called for Dean to be suspended after his controversial call at UFC Shanghai.
Sterling’s coach also expressed his fury about the referee making a ‘horrible call’ against his fighter.