Henry Cejudo Criticizes Herb Dean on Podcast with Usman

While Henry Cejudo has been retired from MMA as a competitor since late last fall, like many of his retirees in the sport, he's been keeping tabs on the happenings both in and out of the cage. In recent times, referee Herb Dean  has become a controversial figure among those who oversee contests on fight night.

Dean's handling of both the June 14 UFC Freedom 250 fight between Alex Pereira and Ciryl Gane and the June 27 fight in Baku matching Shara Magomedov against Michel Pereira have raised concern in the MMA community, including from Henry Cejudo. In his retirement, Cejudo serves as co-host of the Pound 4 Pound podcast with Kamaru Usman.

During the latest installment of Pound 4 Pound, Herb Dean's name came up as a topic of discussion. Henry Cejudo didn't hold back when it came to talking about Herb Dean during the episode.

Henry Cejudo References Officiating in Magomedov vs. Pereira Fight on Pound 4 Pound Episode

Henry Cejudo's comments against Herb Dean in this week's Pound 4 Pound podcast stemmed from remarks made by John McCarthy in support of Dean's officiating.

"Nothing's getting done, bro," Henry Cejudo began. "Who's going to step up? Is it us, the fighters? Is it Dana White? Is it the UFC? How many warnings are warnings?"

Henry Cejudo cited two specific instances from the Shara Magomedov vs. Michel Pereira fight on June 27 as red flags for Herb Dean's work on fight nights in the Octagon.

"Shara Bullet is on bottom," he continued. He grabs Michel Pereira's hair, not once, twice, in the first round. Herb Dean says 'No, no, no, no, no,' and then gets eye-poked in the third round. There's no point deducted."

Henry Cejudo on Referees Coming to Each Other's Defense

Cejudo mentioned the fact that John McCarthy was quick to make comments in support of Herb Dean in recent weeks is nothing new among MMA officials.

"A lot of these refs, too, they're in because it's only them," Henry Cejudo said. "They've got to stick together, so they're always going to back each other up, which is not cool, you know what I'm saying? When somebody (expletive deleted) up, call them out. Tell them."

Henry Cejudo Doesn't Believe Herb Dean is Top-Tier Official in MMA

Cejudo's remarks against Herb Dean didn't stop there. He's of the mindset that the upper eschelon of referees in the sport of MMA is in need of improvement in the wake of Dean's calls.

"If Herb Dean is the standard of officiating at the highest level, then that is some (censored,) bro," he mentioned. "Something has to be done, right? It's true, Kamaru. It's true, bro."

To prove his point, Henry Cejudo referred to the June 14 fight on The White House south lawn in Washington, DC where Ciryl Gane defeated Alex Pereira inside the second round of action, comparing it to what occurred less than two weeks later in Baku.

"I can see the Pereira fight a little bit," he said. "There was about two or three fouls, all right, man, you're moving, blah, blah, blah, but now hair-grabbing, where there's a hand coming in and there's hair being pulled, that's an accident?"