It sounds like Herb Dean is going to let Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz run their mouths inside the Octagon.
It may come as a surprise to some people but the use of “abusive language” is technically a foul under the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. With this in mind, some people may be worried that this unusual rule may have had an impact on UFC 196’s main event as Conor McGregor and Nate Diaz are notorious for talking trash during fights.
However, Herb Dean, who will be refereeing the headliner told MMMAjunkie Radio that he’s going to give the fighters a lot of leeway when it comes to smack talk.
“I generally choose to let people talk trash. I think it’s fine. But actually, there is a rule. There is a rule that says no abusive language in the cage.”
“So yeah, that leaves a lot to my discretion. If somebody … says ‘(expletive) you’ to somebody, people will get offended by it. I mean, we’re watching people kick each other in the face, but we can’t say ‘(expletive) you’ every now and then? I just don’t have a problem with it.”
Dean did recount one example where he regretted not enforcing the rule. He admitted that if it were ever to happen again under his watch, he’d feel compelled to punish the behaviour.
“One time that crossed a line with me was I refereed a fight, and the guy had a guy in a position to ground and pound, and like the whole time, he was saying, ‘Show me your face, bitch. Yeah, bitch. You like that? Don’t you hide from me.'”
“And it was abusive. It made me feel uncomfortable. It was like a weapon. I felt like, man, this guy is going to need therapy after this. And I forgot about the rule. I didn’t really enforce the rule. But if I think if I were to do it again, I would I’ve enforced that. I wouldn’t have let him talk to him like that.”
As long as no lines get crossed, we should be in for a good, expletive-filled fight so.
