Herb Dean comfortable with decision to stop Fedor fight: “The fight is over when he’s unconscious”

One of the best referees in the game, Herb Dean has spoken out on his decision to stop this past weekends heavyweight tilt between Fedor Emelianenko and Dan Henderson when he did, explaining if he was in the same situation again he’d change nothing.
Speaking via MMAJunkie.com, Dean said:

“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.”

Many fans have questioned whether the fight was stopped too early after Fedor rolled to his back after taking the third big strike and appeared to put his hands up to defend himself. Would a fresher Dan Henderson just continued to pour on the punishment if it had been allowed to continue?