Herb Dean stands by his decision to award Adriano Moraes a submission win over Phumi Nkuta.
This past Saturday, Moraes and Nkuta fought in a preliminary bout at the Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano fight card in Inglewood, Calif. At the end of the third round, Moraes locked up a rear-naked choke on Nkuta. Herb Dean, who was refereeing the fight, did not stop the bout at that moment, allowing time to expire before pulling Moraes off Nkuta, who immediately slumped to the floor unconscious. Dean and the ringside
officials then used instant replay to determine that Nkuta was unconscious before the bell, awarding Moraes a controversial win.
But Dean is positive it’s the right call.
“I’m certain that the right decision was made,” Dean told Yahoo Sports. “What I saw, at the end, he got caught in a rear-naked choke. He was palm-to-palm grip. I believe it was after the clapper, the 10-second clapper, but it was right at the end. So, he was giving it everything he’s got, because here’s the opportunity.
“When I stopped the match, there was a second — not a second, there was a fraction of a second where he held onto the choke. And because of that … I wasn’t exactly sure. I wanted to make sure I saw what happened and when things happened, so I went and looked at a replay.”
Dean then watched the replay again and spoke through exactly what happened and what he was thinking at the time.
“I’m thinking about the bell, that the bell’s going to sound, and I’m going to have to fight hands,” Dean said. “So, my focus — usually in a situation like that, where I’m thinking somebody may go out for a rear-naked choke, I have a bit of a wider focus. I want to see the body, because the hands and often the legs are what’s going to give you your clue that someone’s out, whereas looking at their face won’t. But then, as it’s time for me to stop the fight, I’m looking at his hands, because I’m trying to figure out which grips he has and what I might have to fight if he’s not letting go instantly.
“So, that’s why my focus kind of shifted toward the hands. I saw what his body did, but I wasn’t focused there, and since I had time, I wanted to make sure I got everything right, and wanted to know when things happened, especially in relationship to the bell. I went out to look at the replay, and I’m definitely sure that he went unconscious before the bell, right, like a fraction of a second before the bell. Then I went and stopped the fight. He grabbed for a fraction of a second, let go, and then we went and had the time to look at things.”
Ultimately, the whole affair was made even more difficult to judge because Moraes did not immediately let go of the choke at the conclusion of the fight. Even after Dean intervened following the final horn, Moraes continued to choke for a moment, which Dean acknowledged made everything murkier and could have led to a different way of handling things.
“That made it a little bit more complicated, just for the timing of it,” Dean said of Moraes holding the choke. “I don’t think that at that point in time it was egregious enough for me to disqualify him. Because each fight is the most important fight of your career, and you have seconds to lock something in. Who knows where he went. He’s fighting for everything, for his whole career, and he’s giving it everything he’s got. Sometimes it takes a second for someone to realize it’s over. …
“I spoke to Andy [Foster, Executive Director of the California State Athletic Commission] about it afterwards, and I spoke to John [McCarthy, fellow referee]. There were a lot of different options. One option was just because he did hold just a fraction of a second, some thought would have been, ‘Hey, you held a fraction of a second, you made things a little muddy, now it’s your fault, so I’ll just go to the scorecards.’ But I want to get the right result, and I’m certain that we got it.”
Nkuta is less certain. Shortly after the fight, Nkuta’s team revealed their intent to file an appeal with the athletic commission, saying Nkuta was not out, and the bout should have been allowed to go to the scorecards. That’s significant because, per the scorecards, had the fight not been stopped, Nkuta would have won a decision. And though he doesn’t doubt his call on the night, Dean still supports Nkuta’s right to pursue the legal avenues available to him.
“I think if they feel they should file an appeal, they should,” Dean said. “It’s their right to do it. It’s a very serious thing, and people should fight for everything they can. If they feel that’s the right thing to do. I’m not sure what I’m going to do in this situation. I’ll just wait for the commission to tell me what they want from me, if they need anything.”
