Some fans think Aljamain Sterling beat more than just Brian Ortega at UFC Shanghai.
MMA’s top promotion was back in China to stage the latest Road to UFC tournament bouts on Friday and a Fight Night event from the Shanghai Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
Headlining was home star Zhang Mingyang, who had hoped to advance his title ambitions against light heavyweight veteran Johnny Walker. Instead, the favorite suffered a brutal loss in front of his compatriots, as Walker finished Mingyang via TKO in round two.
While that was the main event, the highest stakes came in the co-headliner, as top-10 featherweights Sterling and Brian Ortega collided in a key five-rounder that went on despite Ortega’s scary weight issues during fight week.
It was ultimately ‘Funk Master’ who had his hand raised, but as has been the case multiple times in recent memory, the fight’s refereeing emerged as the main talking point.
Herb Dean under fire for his officiating of Aljamain Sterling vs Brian Ortega
Herb Dean oversaw Sterling’s decision victory over Ortega, which came courtesy of three 50-45 scorecards that followed a one-sided affair in Shanghai.
The former bantamweight champion boldly staked his claim for a shot at Alexander Volkanovski’s featherweight title in the aftermath, but plenty of fans weren’t focused on his performance and were instead criticizing the third man inside the Octagon.
Dean has come under fire for his stoppages and actions in recent years, and two moments left some in the MMA community less than pleased on August 23.
At one point in the fight, Ortega indicated that he had been poked in the eye. While Dean acknowledged that a fist had caused the issue, he still stopped the fight and allowed ‘T-City’ time to recover.
Then, in the final round, the veteran official paused the fight to warn Sterling for his inactivity — a move not often seen in the UFC and one that left some suggesting ‘Funk Master’ was against both Ortega and Dean at UFC Shanghai.
“Herb Dean has been bad recently. It’s time to start promoting some of these other officials.”
“FIRE HERB DEAN.”
“Investigate Herb Dean.”
“Herb Dean confirmed Ortega fan.”
“Aljamain Sterling won despite having to fight both Brian Ortega AND Herb Dean tonight.”
“Herb Dean giving ALJO a warning for running was so unnecessary.”
“They need to enforce standardized refereeing. Herb Dean is a premium Aljo and Merab hater and will immediately try to f— them over.”
“Suspend Herb Dean for telling Aljo to fight at the end.”
Herb Dean also told Merab Dvalishvili to be more active in his first Sean O’Malley fight
Dean’s refereeing in China sparked allegations of bias against teammates Sterling and Merab Dvalishvili, especially after a similar incident involving the latter in 2024.
During Dvalishvili’s win over Sean O’Malley at UFC 306, Dean also issued warnings telling the Georgian to pick up his action inside the Octagon.
The American official has been working under the ONE Championship banner in recent years, where yellow cards are handed out to fighters who do not engage with their opponent.
Judging by his warning to Sterling on Saturday morning, Dean likely wishes he had cards in his back pocket to dish out.