Mania Mailbag: What’s the deal with Herb Dean?

Happy Friday everyone. I hope you have an awesome, non-UFC weekend, ahead of you. As is the norm around her now, Friday is when we share our answers to this week’s mailbag questions.

As always, we received lots of great questions this week. I’ve gotten the staff here to answer a number of those (including some from past weeks, too).

Scroll down to check out what we answered and what we’re saying!

Dean Dilemma

Question: If Dean is really slipping, can’t DW and UFC pick and choose who they want to ref their cards? On a related note I thought big John was coming back. Any reason we haven’t seen him in the Octagon (or did that happen and I missed it?)? (Chucs)

Alex Behunin: While Dana has a lot of power, he can’t necessarily pick and choose a ref to work a card – that is all on the athletic commission. Plus, he has a good relationship with Herb, so I don’t think he wants to get him blacklisted as he did with other refs.

Big John is reffing fights again (he did PFL San Diego last week). However, apparently, he hasn’t worked any UFC cards because Dana hates him again for working for Bellator, and he doesn’t want to cause any more drama, so he’s refusing any UFC work.

Jesse Holland: UFC has no control over referee or judging assignments in territories that are regulated by athletic commissions but they do bring established referees to overseas events where they serve as their own regulatory body. That said, a fighter can petition the commission to keep a specific referee from calling their fights (Brock Lesnar did it for Steve Mazzagatti at UFC 91).

Tim Edwards: Just to echo what the other guys are saying. Dana/UFC can certainly influence the sanctioning structure around UFC events, but they don’t have carte blanche to pick and choose officials. Steve Mazzagatti and Mario Yamasaki were run out of the sport in part due to Dana’s influence, but also due to some pretty notable incidents where fighter safety was at risk to the point there could have been serious injury or worse. This high profile mistakes from Dean have been pretty bad, lately, and they can have a big impact on a fighter’s career, but they aren’t as dangerous as what we saw from the other two.

Paramount Bust?

Q: Realistically, from an insider perspective, is Paramount really that excited about the quality of the cards that have been on in the first 6 months? Takeaway the freedom white House (which was really about the upset which no one predicted) card followed by Cmacs return which hasn’t even happened yet and it’s been pretty flat. No way any of the execs are looking at that and saying it’s as good as the 2016-2020 era. Right? (Chucs)

Andrew Richardson: I would think Paramount execs are comparing the current product to the last five years rather than 5-10 years ago. Also, I would assume the name of the game is adding subscribers and selling ads, and it’s hard to say from the outside if UFC is pulling its weight in those regards.

Alex Behunin: Content is king in 2026, and more specifically, live sports. I’m sure Paramount is probably kicking itself for paying $7 billion, but for the most part, they are happy because they have live sports on their platform. Plus, they got White House and Conor within their first six months – they are stoked.

Jesse Holland: Paramount+ definitely paid above market for UFC content but you also have to think in terms of the long game. Adding UFC is not just about subscribers and ad sales – live sports are proven retention drivers and it keeps the network competitive with rival streaming platforms.

Tim Edwards: The Paramount deal was never about getting bang for their buck. The owners bought the UFC rights at an inflated price to please Donald Trump so that they could have the US government rule on their side of anti-trust decisions. When you view it from that lens, you have to assume Paramount’s approach is “we’ll take what we can get” and if we make money on this thing, that’s great, but the big picture goes beyond that.

Asu On The Up

Q: Is Asu Abmabayev that good? or was Charles “Bozo the clown” Johnson game plan just that bad? Throwing naked kicks at a guy who wants to take your down is a bad idea and makes for an awful easy takedown? Asu looked great (he also looked small), but I wonder if his opponent wasn’t part of that. (LoneCowboy)

Andrew Richardson: I think both? Almabayev’s striking has genuinely never looked better, and his wrestling/grappling is world-class. Johnson did make his life easier with the awful naked kicks, but he still was creating great scrambles on the floor and forcing Almabayev to show his talent.

Alex Behunin: I think Asu Abmabayev is that good and he’s only getting better. His only loss was to Manel Kape, and if you remember, he got poked in the eye right before the finish. But I agree with you, Charles Johnson had an awful game plan – but he was simply outmatched and he wasn’t beating Asu that night.

Tim Edwards: I think Almabayev deserves a lot of credit for that performance. He’s had some really boring ones over his UFC tenure so far, but he looked great in Baku. His striking was dynamic, he took chances and then had that wrestling to fall back on when he felt like it. The Sulev stretch snatched the headlines, as it should, put he was boxing up Johnson in that fight. Johnson ended up looking like a clown, but he’s someone who can uncork a big KO shot when the opportunity is there. Credit to Almabayev for denying him that and not just by taking him down and laying on him.

Worst Favorite Fight?

Q: What has been your favorite fight that would cause us casuals to question your journalistic integrity? (gadgetsCA)

Andrew Richardson: I actually really enjoyed watching Bryan Caraway’s early UFC fights (like vs. Mitch Gagnon, Bedford, Aljo), but he’s now on “Most Wanted Lists.” Cool BJJ though!

Jesse Holland: I was a big Mike Swick fan and loved watching him annihilate UFC wannabes like Gideon Ray and Alex Schoenauer. As for a particular fight, I enjoyed Jason MacDonald vs. Demian Maia at UFC 87 way more than I should have.

Tim Edwards: I don’t think I have a good answer for this one. I will say, though, that a lot of the fights that people love I just don’t enjoy. I’m talking about the Blaydes vs. Hokit fights where both guys are tired and land everything they throw. I like fights with a lot of technique, momentum shifts and guys working really hard to land their best stuff. My exception to this, though, is how much I loved Pat Barry vs. Cheick Kongo. I also loved when Houston Alexander came on the scene. I’m not embarrassed about those, though. I suppose the most embarrassing thing I was obsessed with were those Kimbo Slice backyard fights.

Beyond the Octagon

Q: How often do you watch/follow other MMA promotions? Which ones outside of the major names (if any) are your favorites? (cavemanoncomputer)

Andrew Richardson: I follow the local show (Urijah Faber’s A-1 Combat) and occasionally watch PFL/RIZIN if it’s a bigger event.

Alex Behunin: I used to watch every regional show I could for years, but my free time became valuable to me lol. But still watch every PFL card, every Fury FC card, every Tuff-n-Uff, and I stay up to date with LFA because I don’t have VICE.
I highly recommend Fury FC because they stack their cards and don’t pad their fighters’ records – every fight is tough.

Jesse Holland: I like watching BKB Bare Knuckle Boxing because it reminds me a lot of the early days of UFC, long before a fighter’s priority became protecting his/her brand. Guys just plow forward and unleash hell until someone drops.

Tim Edwards: Due to some work I do for another site, I watch LFA, Cage Warriors, KSW, and OKTAGON pretty regularly. Of those, I really like OKTAGON. It’s got PRIDE vibes with the big characters, showmanship (especially on walkouts) and the fights really deliver. They even have special ‘stand and bang’ rules fights. Also like PRIDE, there’s definitely no testing going on over there.

Divided We Fall?

Q: Part of the reason why the UFC doesn’t have any real competition is because they’re all cannibalizing each other. Do you think that if some of the major promotions magically merged together we would see an actual challenge to the UFC? (cavemanoncomputer)

Andrew Richardson: I think it’s more important that one of these promotions achieves consistency and a broadcast partner that believes in them. MVP seemingly has the latter, but can they hold 6-12 events per year? Then we’d be in business. PFL conversely has a great roster, but ESPN never did much to promote the fights (nor did PFL, in fairness). How often have you learned that a PFL card is happening while it’s happening?

Alex Behunin: Even if PFL, RIZIN, and MVP merged, they would never catch up to the UFC. UFC had a 33-year head start and is a well-oiled machine. To put it bluntly, UFC is MMA for most of the fan base.

I just hope MVP and Coker’s new promotion can be a viable promotion for other fighters to fight for and make money.

Jesse Holland: It’s too late. UFC is synonymous with MMA and will always attract the best talent. In addition, UFC will never have any real competition because a promotion has to operate at a significant loss for several years before breaking even and there’s no guarantee of getting there. It kind of amazes me that promotions like PFL and ONE can still attract investors without showing any projections of future profit. Probably why Con Davis got fired.

Tim Edwards: I think the more mildly successful promotions there are the better. The UFC does have the market cornered, but I think there is space for MMA promotions who don’t use the UFC’s playbook. MMA can be fun and I think MVP did a great job of leaning into that. I don’t think one promotion is going to challenge the UFC anytime, soon, but I think there could be multiple destinations for fighters to go where they could make a living. That could eat away at the dominance the UFC has over talent acquisition and bring down the level of the product to the point where more folks are interested in MMA and not just UFC.

Mr. Irrelevant

Q: Who is the best fighter you’ve never seen accomplish much of note? I’m referring to guys who seem/seemed supremely talented but never put much together. (cavemanoncomputer)

Andrew Richardson: Until Fares Ziam gets back in the rankings, he’s my vote. He fought so poorly against Tom Nolan …

Alex Behunin: Daniel Zellhuber is extremely talented – good boxing, elite grappling, but can not put it together. The things I’ve seen in the gym are wild. It baffles me to the core that he decided to box with Bobby Green and Michael Johnson instead of taking them down and strangling them.

Jesse Holland: Melvin Guillard had all of the physical tools and none of the mental ones. If he could have kept his nose clean (har har) and stayed loyal to Jackson-Wink he wouldn’t be a punchline to a joke about UFC washouts.

Tim Edwards: Roger Huerta springs to mind immediately. He seemed to have it all, but then things went south for him. I think his decline was due to his breakout being one of the early examples of the UFC wanting to be the brand and not give that over to any fighter — especially someone who burst out so suddenly. Athletically he seemed to have all the tools, but his career seemed to suffer from some sabotage (including some possible self-sabotage). I’ll throw Brandon Thatch, TJ Grant, Cat Zingano and Joel Alvarez as some others I thought were going to be special, but just couldn’t live up to that.

Do You Wanna See a Draw?

Q: With everyone complaining about refs taking points… Is the MMA world (fighters and fans) really prepared for having so many more draws and the clusterf**k that would do to the calendar as a whole? (MildoggyMan)

Andrew Richardson: People are not prepared, but sudden death rounds would be such an obvious solution.

Alex Behunin: It’s actually a good point, and no, fans are not ready. But I welcome more draws.
I have screamed for 10 years now that if referees took a point for every single eye poke, every fence grab, and every low blow, the fighters would stop doing it.

Jesse Holland: After suffering through some of those G-Shooto cards in Japan where every non-finish ends in a draw, I can assure you that draws will remain a rarity in UFC unless they purposely want to kill the product.

Tim Edwards: I don’t have an issue with draws, per se. I am a soccer fan, after all. What I would really hate would be how many rematches that would justify. The draw has also been weaponized in boxing and I’d hate to see that happen in MMA, too.

Quick hits

Q: Where are we in the UFCs transition into the WWE? (Chucs)

Jesse Holland: Based on what I saw at UFC White House, I think we’re currently in the Brundlefly phase.

Tim Edwards: I don’t see the comparison, personally. I think WWE talent is more likely to tell TKO where to shove it when things get so bad than UFC fighters are. I’m just holding out hope that wrestlers get a union together and provide a blueprint for fighters to do the same.

Q: Without Conor, Khabib will not be this famous (Icedrocket)

Andrew Richardson: Of course not. Beating up Conor McGregor added millions of fans to Khabib’s legion, but he was already a significant star as well..

Alex Behunin: I do agree. Khabib would have become champion at some point but without Conor, he would have been Ankalaev-famous.

Tim Edwards: For better or worse, the Khabib-Conor rivalry really put Khabib on the map. Without that fight, and all that happened around it, Nurmagomedov would have still gone down as a great champ (on the outskirts of the GOAT talk), but the McGregor stuff made him more memorable (and a lot richer, too).

Q:Why is MMA striking so dependent on looping hooks whereas other combat sports (say Muay Thai or boxing or kickboxing) use a lot more straight shots? (LoneCowboy)

Andrew Richardson: MMA operates at a longer distance than every other striking sport, which tends to encourage leaning/running away from exchanges and leaning forward into swings. You can and should close distance with a snappy double jab-straight right as well, but catching somebody leaning backwards with a loopy hook is a likely kill shot.

Jesse Holland: It’s a powerful strike and helps get around high guard or close distance when initiating a clinch of grappling exchange.

Tim Edwards: I think it’s the favorite tool of the wrestlers, because it’s a nice thing to go to off a takedown feint.

Q: Do you realistically think another promotion will be able to compete with the UFC at some point, or will other promotions only emerge if the UFC breaks apart? (Caveman Computer)

Alex Behunin: Nope. Never.

Tim Edwards: Not really. But I do wonder if them tying themselves so tightly to the current presidential administration will have some sort of backlash once that administration is over. They tied their themselves to that when the popularity was at an all-time high. That popularity has seeped away, including in the UFC’s key demographic. Lots of fans have thrown in the towel over the UFC’s political enmeshment. Once this administration is over, I’m not sure if people will return to the sport or stay away. But I do think there’s a chance everything they’ve done over the past few years results in a net negative. Whether that benefits anyone else, though, I’m not sure.

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