Dana White Critical of Herb Dean’s Hesitation During Stoppage of De Lima-Rothwell Bout

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There was no question that Marcos Rogerio de Lima had Ben Rothwell reeling prior to the bout’s stoppage during their co-main event clash at UFC Fight Night 197 on Saturday.

However, referee Herb Dean created some confusion when he appeared to step in and halt the heavyweight bout before backing off as de Lima battered his foe with power punches. After the veteran official’s near intervention, Rothwell dropped for a desperation takedown, only to pull de Lima on top of him. De Lima turned to Dean while in top position to indicate he was no longer attacking, and at that point, Dean officially called off the fight.

The manner in which the stoppage occurred drew some criticism from UFC president Dana White at the post-fight press conference.

“Herb needs to stop touching guys unless the fight’s over,” White said. “He goes in and grabs him (de Lima) by the waist and decides, ‘Oops’.. The good thing about this one was, that fight should’ve been stopped when he stopped it. You didn’t see Ben jumping up and arguing about it. That fight should’ve been stopped.”

Dean’s initial instinct to step in occurred when de Lima buckled Rothwell with a punch, causing the Wisconsin native’s leg to nearly fold beneath him. However, Rothwell was held up by the fence directly behind him, and shortly thereafter he shot for the defensive takedown. Regardless, Rothwell was badly hurt and absorbing a lot of damage.

White would have preferred that Dean make a more decisive call in that moment.

“When they played it back in slow motion, he’s kind of like dancing, like he doesn’t know what to do, whether he’s gonna jump in or not jump in,” White said. “I like him personally, he’s a nice guy. He’s got to stop touching people until he’s ready to stop the fight.”