Dana White irritated at lack of restart in final moments of 'TUF 22' final

Artem Lobov and Ryan Hall

LAS VEGAS – UFC President Dana White thinks Herb Dean, one of the most visible and longstanding referees in the promotion, had an off night at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale.

White said he was driven crazy by the final moments of the reality show’s finale, a short-notice replacement featuring finalist Artem Lobov against replacement Ryan Hall.

Hall (5-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) replaced Saul Rogers (10-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC), the fighter who eliminated him in the show’s quarterfinals, and went on to out-grapple Lobov (11-11-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) to win via unanimous decision and claim the “TUF 22” title.

The lightweight bout co-headlined today’s TUF 22 Finale event at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. The entire event aired on FOX Sports 1.

It wasn’t necessarily Hall’s mat work that drove White up the wall, but the action in the third round. Hall climbed on Lobov’s back and held a standing back mount. Lobov fought Hall’s hands to prevent a choke from being secured but didn’t try to escape otherwise, creating a long stalemate.

“What drove me crazy was Herb Dean let him stay on (Lobov’s) back for the last three minutes standing,” White said. “No damage is being done. Nobody was really advancing their position, and this is for everything. This is for ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ Stand it back up, and I think Herb, who I think is one of the best, I think he didn’t do his best tonight.

“I saw a lot of people talking negatively about (Hall). One of the thing about this kid, with his jiu-jitsu, it’s so sick and so high-level, you haven’t seen a guy who can go and slide in and take a leg. He goes from one thing to the other. If he’d pulled off one of those submissions, people wouldn’t be b-tching about it, which is one of the reasons I think Herb should have allowed them to fight for the last three minutes. There was no fighting for the last three minutes. There was no fighting for the last three minutes of the fight. That’s irritating, and that leaves a bad taste in people’s mouth.”

But White ultimately stressed that, as always, “TUF” will go on, putting up-and-comers such as Hall against newcomers and veterans, all battling for a UFC contract.

For complete coverage of The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale, check out the UFC Events section of the site.