Herb Dean Net Worth: Herbert Dean (born September 30, 1970) is a top-tier referee in the sport of professional mixed martial arts for the UFC. Dean has been called “the best MMA referee in the world” by such luminaries as Dana White, Joe Rogan, ESPN.com, Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, SB Nation (mmamania.com), Fightland, and more.
During UFC 48 on June 19, 2004, Dean presided over the heavyweight championship bout between Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir. At 0 minutes and 50 seconds of the first round, Dean stopped the fight after he saw Sylvia’s right forearm break while in an armbar.
Early Life
Herb Dean was born in Pasadena, California in 1970. He started doing martial arts when he was nine years old and kept it up all through his teenage years. To provide some context, prior to UFC 1, Dean trained with Frank Trejo.
He continued training with Trejo and eventually incorporated judo and jiu-jitsu as well. A year or two later, Dean became friends with boxer Larry Landless, who introduced him to mixed martial arts training at Los Angeles’ Submission Factory.
MMA Fighting Career
Dean is a 2-2 mixed martial arts (MMA) competitor with a professional record. At Gladiator Challenge 6 in September 2001, in his first professional bout, he submitted Randy Halmot. He lost his next match, to Joe Riggs, in early 2003.
Dean defeated Timothy Mendoza via technical knockout at KOTC 39: Hitmaster the next year. As a result, he went on to lose against Jung Gyu Choi and Dave Legeno in his next two matches.
Notable UFC Matches
Over the course of his career, Dean has officiated a lot of noteworthy games. One of them was UFC 48, which featured a match between Tim Sylvia and Frank Mir in the summer of 2004. When Dean discovered Sylvia had broken his arm, he tried to break up the battle, but Sylvia vehemently disagreed and protested that the fight should continue.
Dr. Margaret Goodman, the ringside doctor, was eventually successful in stopping the contest. The rematch between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock at UFC 61 was another noteworthy contest. Once more, Dean intervened to break up the altercation as Ortiz repeatedly elbowed Shamrock in the head without being met with a response.
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Shamrock was quite upset when Dean awarded Ortiz the victory via TKO, and she had to be led out of the Octagon. Dean officiated the contest between Gabriel Gonzaga and Mirko Filipovi at UFC 70 in 2007. Dean recovered from the guard position in this tough match, and Gonzaga then successfully kicked Filipovi out of the match.
Following the punch, Filipovi had a horrible landing with his right foot pinned under him and turned 180 degrees backward. He was released from the pin by Dean to avoid suffering any major harm.
Dean was later praised by UFC president Dana White for being the greatest referee in the business due to his good eye and judgment during UFC 109. Renzo Gracie, Chuck Liddell, Quinton Jackson, Randy Couture, and George St. Pierre are just a few of the many other well-known athletes Dean has officiated.
The UFC Refs Get Paid
A professional referee can get anything from $2,500 to $10,000 for officiating a single pay-per-view event. It would cost about $250,000 to $350,000 per year at this rate. It’s possible for a female referee to make $1,500 per game and $3,500 per PPV.
Therefore, they anticipate a profit of more than $60,000 each year. Kim Winslow is the highest-paid female UFC referee at $60,000 per year, according to most sources.
Controversy
Dean has been called “one of the top referees” by UFC president Dana White. In addition, he added that since Herb’s role as a mediator between Sylvia and Mir in 2004, he never doubts or questions Herb’s judgment. But he has lately acknowledged that Herb “made a mistake” in stopping work during the fight between Renan Barao and Urijah Faber.
Dean was also condemned for interfering with other battles, which added fuel to the fire of the aforementioned dispute. MMA supporters took to Twitter to call his interruption of Khalid Murtazaliev and CB Dollaway’s bout “disgusting.”
Herb Dean Net Worth
Herb Dean net worth is estimated at $2.5 million, earned largely from his roles as a referee and former fighter in mixed martial arts. His work as a referee for the Ultimate Fighting Championship has earned him a reputation as the best in the sport of mixed martial arts.
In addition, Dean won the Fighters Only Magazine World MMA Award for Referee of the Year every year from 2010 through 2014. Each year, the UFC pays Herb Dean $500,000.