Joaquin Buckley has a surprising opinion on referee Herb Dean.
Dean in 2026 has been under fire from numerous notable fighters, such as former two-division UFC champion Alex Pereira and Jorge Masvidal, and he's even received criticism from UFC CEO Dana White. Pereira went off on Dean for mishandling his TKO loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250. Masvidal said Dean refs with nervous energy and should no longer be allowed to officiate
.Buckley (21-8 MMA, 11-6 UFC), who meets Mike Malott (14-2-1 MMA, 7-1 UFC) in Saturday's UFC Fight Night 291 headliner (Paramount+) at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, came to Dean's defense.
"I love Herb Dean," Buckley told MMA Junkie. "Herb Dean is one of my favorite refs, especially because of the style of fighter
that I am. I need Herb Dean to be in the cage every single time. ... I mean, like I said, if you're a fighter, you're a fighter. So, if you're really trying to fight to get that win, Herb going to give you plenty of opportunities."
Buckley explained that his only issue lies with the inconsistency of reffing, which he didn't direct at anyone specifically.
"I feel like there's too many refs with too many different ideas and perspectives on how they want to see the fight when it shouldn't be built like that," Buckley said. "I think whether it's Mark Smith or Jason Herzog or Dan Miragliotta, or my man Beltran or Herb Dean and stuff, they all do different jobs at reffing. And when I look at boxing, and I look at the refs that's been in the game for a long time on their side, they all do the same job. When the fight gets up in the clinch, they break it up. It's like they don't look for anything different. They stick to whatever regulated rules is to the game.
"But I feel like with certain guys, even if I'm dropping names like Jason Herzog, he'll look at a fight and if it's on the ground, he'll keep it on the ground. He won't stand it up whatsoever, and you might pick and choose who that might be, but then what made you make a decision to pick that one up and not the other one? And that's one thing they should explain a little bit more, and they don't. Even when we're at the back, and we're talking, we ask some questions. So, I think there's a lot that can change about the reffing in general. But no, I love Herb Dean, end of story."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: UFC contender: 'I love Herb Dean, end of story'
