It’s a stoppage that will likely go down as one of the most controversial in UFC history, but referee Herb Dean thinks the call he made at UFC 235 was justifiable given his vantage point.
Dean was on-hand at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on March 2 to oversee Ben Askren’s highly anticipated debut against former UFC welterweight champion Robbie Lawler. The fight was developing into an instant classic, with Lawler slamming the two-time Division 1 NCAA wrestling champion to the mat and nearly finishing him with ground-and-pound, only to find himself defending a choke moments later as Askren scrambled and recovered.