Herb Dean is one of the most tenured and experienced referees in the sport, but he certainly isn’t immune to blunders, and he had one at UFC 257.
Marina Rodriguez landed a perfect right straight that face planted Amanda Ribas. As she pounced and landed a few shots to try and end the fight, Ribas briefly went limp again and referee Dean stepped in.
Rodriguez celebrated as Dean made some contact with her — which should signal a stoppage — but the fight wasn’t over. Dean hesitated in a terrible way, and he decided that he didn’t officially wave the fight off yet.