"I Do Feel Bad"- Alex Pereira Has a Change of Heart About Herb Dean
Former two-division UFC champion Alex Pereira has finally found time to show veteran referee Herb Dean some love.
Dean started receiving widespread backlash after Pereira criticized him for failing to warn Ciryl Gane or intervene when the Frenchman landed several strikes to the back of Pereira's head during their UFC Freedom 250 fight. "Poatan" believes the illegal blows contributed to his second-round TKO loss, and he could not become the first three-division UFC champion.
Check out Alex Pereira's comments after UFC White House Loss below:
After the UFC Freedom 250 saga between Dean and Pereira, the referee now gets booed by fans before and after every fight. Even the slightest mistake by Dean now draws criticism from the MMA community.
Refereeing is a difficult job, as officials often have only a fraction of a second to make crucial decisions. Now, Dean is having a rough year so far, with fighters like King Green and Michel Pereira, among many others, calling him out over mistakes he has made while officiating fights.
Alex Pereira "Sometimes" Feels Bad For Herb Dean
Alex Pereira told Ariel Helwani that although he feels bad for the hate Herb Dean has been receiving lately, at the end of the day Dean must protect fighters by doing his job inside the octagon. Here's what he said:
"Sometimes I do feel bad cause I know it's his job... But I think when I spoke, was just me advocating because he's the guys to be there supposed to be protecting the fighters and just to avoid something worse to happen to any fighter."
Check out Alex Pereira's comments about Herb Dean below:
Alex Pereira Does Not Want Herb Dean Inside The Octagon When He Fights
Pereira also added that come fight night, if he has the chance to explore other options, he definitely doesn't want Herb Dean refereeing his future bouts.
“I don’t know how things role in the fight night, but if I can have a choice, I definitely don’t want him refereeing my fights no more."
"Poatan" is looking to return to winning ways and also score his first win in the heavyweight division. The Brazilian will lock horns with Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event of UFC 335.
