Herb Dean's decision to stop the fight at the Strikeforce main event bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson have come under scrutiny from some fans and analysts. The referee, who is known to be one of the best in the industry, reviewed the tape, and still stands by his decision to stop the fight when he did. He talked to MMAJunkie about it:
"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. 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."
"I stepped in to support him once he stood up because his balance was still not totally there. I believe his motor control was still questionable... 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"
Herb Dean's point of saying that he already stopped the fight after Fedor was unconscious, should also address the issue brought up by a few individuals about the few back-of-the-head shots Dan landed. According to him, those two to three punches landed are already irrelevant as touching Dan prior to waving it off, and Fedor rolling over, already signaled the end of the fight.
HT: MMANation
SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson