Herb Dean has weighed in on a claim Dominick Cruz has made about another referee.
Dean has been highly regarded as a referee in the sport of MMA. Following his UFC 249 loss to Henry Cejudo, Cruz said he wishes Dean was the third man inside the Octagon. Instead, it was Keith Peterson. Cruz was stopped in the second round of his bout with Cejudo via TKO. “The Dominator” protested the stoppage and was visibly upset with Peterson.
Dean Weighs In On Cruz’s Claims
The Schmo was able to catch up with Dean following UFC 249. During the interview, Dean gave his take on Cruz’s claim that Peterson smelled like booze and cigarettes (h/t MMAJunkie.com).
“I didn’t smell alcohol on Keith Peterson,” Dean told internet personality “The Schmo” on Tuesday. “Keith Peterson was around us all day, and I’ll tell you this: If any of us suspect that someone’s been drinking the day of the fight, there’s no way any official is gonna let that pass. We’re gonna call someone out. This is a very serious job we do.”
Regardless of how Cruz feels about the stoppage, it will go down as his first TKO loss. “The Dominator” has gone winless since June 2016. When he stepped inside the Octagon with Cejudo, it was his first bout since Dec. 2016.
Cejudo was finding success early in the fight with his leg kicks. While Cruz fared better in the second stanza, Cejudo was still sticking to the game plan. Cruz ended up eating a knee to the jaw that dropped him. “Triple C” followed it up with ground-and-pound to put an end to the title fight.
