Alex Pereira doesn’t feel he got a fair shake in his loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC White House.
The former light heavyweight and middleweight champion’s quest to become the UFC’s first-ever three-division titleholder ended in disappointment on Sunday when Gane knocked him out in the second round to claim an interim heavyweight championship. Gane was leading the dance for much of the contest and eventually put Pereira away with strikes, but fans were quick to point out that some of Gane’s punches appeared to be illegal as they connected with the back of Pereira’s head during the finishing flurry.
In his first statement since the loss, Pereira took referee Herb Dean to task for not pausing the action to address the illegal strikes.
“Putting myself in the referee’s shoes, my opponent’s there and catches me, I drop, he starts striking,” Pereira said. “The ref is watching that they are illegal shots, but he thinks like this, ‘How am I going to stop this fight?’ It’s illegal, it’s in the rules. You’re not going to be wrong if you stop it. It’s in the rules; you stop it.
“If people say, ‘Why did you stop it?’ Look at the video; nobody was going to say anything about the ref. In that scenario, people give him credit as a man. But now he is not a man. He shouldn’t have been refereeing that fight. To be honest, a guy like that should be punished. That’s how it is. It’s a very serious job. It’s a very serious event. What happened, the ref should’ve faced legal consequences for that.”
Adding to Pereira’s irritation is that he went out of his way to speak with Dean beforehand about the possibility of Gane committing fouls in their fight. Gane’s in-cage tactics have been put under the microscope on several occasions, including in his previous fight at UFC 321 when he poked undisputed champion Tom Aspinall in the eyes, leading to the bout being waved off as a no-contest. Former UFC champion Junior dos Santos also accused Gane of elbowing him in the back of the head when they fought in December 2020.
Pereria admits he was rocked by a legitimate Gane punch, but afterward, his opponent took unfair advantage.
“After the jab I dropped, I grabbed his legs,” Pereira said. “It was there, throwing elbows, punches, he’s desperate. He threw a shot he didn’t even believe in, and he wanted to finish the fight in whatever way. He always does that, multiple fights, if you look at his highlights, that’s what you’ll see all the time. I was being very careful about that. Finger in the eye, kick to the groin, that there isn’t supposed to happen, but it does. Even I could potentially do that, but not because I meant to.
“It’s a contact sport, but on the back of the head? You’re right there, man, you have to be seeing it. But that was the opportunity of a lifetime for him, and the referee was right there to see it. The day before the fight, we had a rules meeting. I asked [coach] Plinio [Cruz] to translate for him, and I told him, ‘Look, man, eye poke, groin strikes, those things can happen. It’s not supposed to, but it can happen. But this guy has a long history of it.’ Dirty shots, throwing punches to the back of the head, elbows. I saw some videos, so I was worried. So I brought that up with him ahead of time and asked him to keep an eye on it.”
Whatever conversation Pereira had with Dean and the other officials prior to Sunday’s co-main event, it apparently didn’t help, as Pereira believes he was battered by illegal blows before the stoppage occurred.
“If you watch the footage, multiple shots there, multiple elbows,” Pereira said. “OK, sure, the jab, but given everything that happened, illegal. I was getting up, it became difficult to recover, but I believe that if it wasn’t for those shots I [wouldn’t] be in that situation and could’ve possibly recovered. Maybe not, but they were very hard shots and illegal.”
Pereira also posted pictures of back of his head to his social media, showing apparent lumps from the blows.
With the loss, Pereira not only missed out on the chance to make history as the only three-division titleholder, he is also bumped out of a potential fight with Aspinall whenever the heavyweight champion is ready to return from his eye injuries.
Pereira feels it’s only fair that Gane rematch him instead of having the chance to move on to fight Aspinall a second time.
“After the event, we were in the hotel, manager, I got a call, we’ve already spoken,” Pereira said. “The next step, I explained to them, I spoke about the illegal shots, and it was a fight that was good, and the tendency to grow the show, it was starting up. I said the right thing is an immediate rematch.
“I spoke to the organization, and they asked for some time to get an answer because so much was happening. The event had just happened. They are going to see what they are going to do. I’m going to wait a bit, but very soon, we will have an answer.”
Even though his night ended in disappointment, Pereira doesn’t regret his move up to heavyweight. “Poatan” has made a habit of defying expectations, debuting with the UFC in 2021 after a successful kickboxing career and going on to win titles in two divisions just seven fights into his time with the promotion.
For Pereira, this was just another risk well worth taking.
“Like I said in the octagon, if I hadn’t taken a risk every time I fought, I would not be who I am today,” Pereira said. “Third belt, nobody has done it. Nobody. Coming from middleweight, light heavyweight, then heavyweight, it’s very difficult, but within reality. Obviously, for some mistakes, it wasn’t this time, but those of you who know me know how I come back. I will be back stronger.
“In respect to training, do I need to change my training? I think I did everything right. I was good in the fight. The strategy was being put into practice, all the ideas me and my team had, it is what it is. Risks are there. The payoff in the fight game is a bit complicated. The time can come for something good, other times bad, that’s how it is. But like I said, for those who know me, be certain in how I’ll return. I’ll be back stronger, focused like always, dedicated like always, that’s it. I’m happy. I’m happy with everything.”
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