MMA referees — and one in particular — have been taking a lot of heat lately. How much of that is deserved, and what ought to be done about it?
Plus, how much right do fans have to expect a certain kind of style in those BMF ******* le fights, and how mad do they get to be when they get something different?
All that and more in this week's mailbag. To ask a question of your own, hit up BenFowlkesMMA on X or Ben_Fowlkes on Threads.
pmsdeadandalive: why do herb dean's public defenders (volk, big john) think that "he's a great guy" is an excuse for being bad at his job? the man has struggled three straight weeks; letting shara bullet yank hair 3x & then eye poke with no point taken was ridiculous. how do you see this ending?
Referees have an incentive to support each other, at least in public. No one wants to be the guy second-guessing his peers and isolating himself in the process. I do know that, behind closed doors, referees and judges say it's vital to have colleagues they can trust to tell them when they're in the wrong. I don't know if that's happening right now with Herb Dean, but I don't think we should ******* ume that what's being said in private is always the same as what's said in public.