ONE Championship: referee Herb Dean praises ‘high-level, top-notch talent’ on Prime Video cards
- Dean is a familiar face to UFC fans, but only recently began working with ONE, refereeing several MMA bouts on Prime Video
- Veteran official likes ONE’s variety of combat sports, especially submission grappling – ‘that’s near and dear to me’
Herb Dean seems to be enjoying his work with ONE Championship so far.
The American, 52, is one of the most experienced referees in mixed martial arts, and has presided over some of the most significant contests in the sport’s history.
He is not often seen officiating fights outside North America and Europe, but recently ventured to Singapore to oversee a handful of important bouts in ONE. He was last in the Circle when Xiong Jingnan defended her strawweight belt with a gritty unanimous decision victory over atomweight champion Angela Lee.
“The Xiong versus Lee fight was great,” the veteran referee said after the promotion’s second event on Amazon’s Prime Video streaming service.
“It went all five rounds. [Lee’s] ability to stay focused and weather the storm, that was great – but nothing surprised me. I came here expecting to see high-level, top-notch talent. That’s what I’ve seen from ONE so far.”
ONE has built an impressive roster of MMA talent, but the promotion has also differentiated itself from its competitors by scoring fights in their entirety, rather than by round.