Ref Herb Dean Defends Fedor vs. Henderson Call, Says It’s His Job To Protect An Unconscious Fighter

Referee Herb Dean has received some criticism for stopping the fight between Dan Henderson and Fedor Emelianenko in this past weekends Strikeforce main event. These critics are saying it was an early stoppage and that Dean should have let the two fighters continue.
Henderson faced Fedor this past weekend in the Sears Centre Arena at the co-branded Strikeforce / M-1 Global event, earning a first round TKO win over the Russian.
During a scramble late in the first, Fedor swooped in on a fallen Henderson and began some ground-and-pound. ‘Hendo’ would slip to the side, then delivering an uppercut from behind as ‘The Last Emporer’ was on all fours and looking to stand up. The punch would flatten Fedor out, who was then swarmed by Henderson looking to finish.
Referee Herb Dean would step in right away to end the fight. Fedor, meanwhile had recovered, rolled to his back and was beginning to defend himself from Henderson’s attacks.
Speaking to MMAjunkie.com, Dean defended his call saying that he can’t predict how long a fighter will be “unconscious” once they’ve been put out, and that fighter safety is his first concern.

“If I was to do it again – if I see a fighter face down receiving shots, I’m going to step in and stop the fight. I can’t predict how long he’s going to be unconscious for.”
“The fight is over when he’s unconscious,” Dean said. “Because he comes back swiftly after I’ve already stepped in and stopped the fight, I can’t restart the fight. Dan’s still throwing punches, but once I’ve touched Dan, I’ve stopped the fight… ”
“Once I see an unconscious fighter receiving blows while unconscious, that’s my job to prevent him from receiving more blows, and that’s what I’m going to do,” he said.

Strikeforce / M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Henderson took place on Saturday, July 30, at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois.