UFC 332 referee Herb Dean is back in the headlines — for all the wrong reasons.
Dean called an end to the lightweight showdown between King Green and Esteban Ribovics last Sat. night (Oct. 3, 2026) at Delta Center in Salt Lake City after Green got dropped three times in the opening frame. Green was not unconscious at the time of the stoppage and felt like he deserved the chance to continue.
“Sh*t happens,” Green told his social media followers after the fight. “I told myself, regardless or not, I’m
not gonna be mad at myself, but I’m a little mad. I told Herb, this is gonna get sticky. Let me go out on my shield. I was still fine. I wanted to keep fighting. I felt like we were getting somewhere. But it was a great fight. Shout out to everybody that supported and everybody that was cheering me on. I love you guys. I’m fine. I’m great. I felt like I’m gonna fight next f—king week. You know what I mean? And so, thank you so much for the support. I love you guys and I will be back very soon.”
Ordinarily, the stoppage may not have warranted so much attention, but Dean has been part of several controversial finishes over the last few months, drawing sharp criticism from UFC veterans like Alex Pereira, Andre Fili, Michel Pereira, and Henry Cejudo, among others.
Even the folks at MVP MMA were getting mean with Dean.
“Herb’s having a rough f—king year,” UFC CEO Dana White said at the UFC 332 post-fight press conference (watch the replay here). “Listen, you know, Bobby was laying there going … you know … but he got dropped like three times in a row. So, I’ve seen worse stoppages.”
Like this one, also involving King Green.
I’m sure it was a tough pill to swallow for Green (36-18-1, 1 NC) after all the bad blood leading up to the Ribovics fight. The loss also snapped Green’s four-fight win streak, putting an end to his improbable run at 40 years old. As for Ribovics (17-3), this marked his third fight of 2026 and his second straight win by technical knockout.
For complete UFC 332 results and highlights click here.
