Herb Dean hasn't received the warmest welcomes at UFC events in recent months.
The veteran referee has been heavily booed by the crowd at UFC events when presented on the broadcast and arena screens as the referee officiating an upcoming fight. This has been a common thread for many events now, and it primarily began after Alex Pereira attacked Dean in the media, criticizing him for not properly refereeing his interim heavyweight title fight with Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250 in June.
Pereira thinks Dean should've disqualified Gane for hitting him in the back of the head after he was knocked down. Instead, the fight continued, and Gane wasn't reprimanded, allowing him to win by TKO.
The fan dissatisfaction with Dean has persisted throughout 2026,
potentially fueled by other questionable calls Dean has been involved in. Either way, part of "Poatan" feels bad for what Dean is going through, but doesn't regret making those comments.
"I see everything that's going on, and sometimes I do feel bad because I know it's his job, but when I spoke, I was just advocating because he's the guy to be there who's supposed to be protecting the fighters and avoid that something worse could happen to a fighter," Pereira told Ariel Helwani in Portuguese. "I had to speak my mind. But yeah, I do feel bad for him sometimes, some certain ways."
Still, despite sympathizing with Dean, Pereira wants him nowhere near any of his future fights.
"I don't know how things role in the fight night, but if i can have a choice, I definitely don't want him refereeing my fights no more," Pereira said.
Pereira is scheduled to take on Sergei Pavlovich in the co-main event of UFC 335 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 12. Not only is the Brazilian not happy with how things went down in his last fight, but also with how things have transpired since. He was hoping to get a rematch with Gane or get Josh Hokit.
"They're going according to what we have on the contract," Pereira said. "I said I would fight anybody and things like that. What got me upset was that they told me that I was going to possibly fight (Ciryl) Gane for the belt or fight (Josh) Hokit, and none of that happened, but they do whatever they want."
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Alex Pereira explains why he now feels bad for Herb Dean at UFC events
