Pereira Blasts Referee After Gane Loss

Alex Pereira (13-4) has broken his silence on his UFC White House defeat to Ciryl Gane (13-4, 1 NC), directing his anger at referee Herb Dean for failing to intervene when Gane landed what Pereira believes were illegal strikes to the back of his head during the finishing sequence.

The former two-division champion’s bid to become the UFC’s first three-division titleholder ended in the second round when Gane stopped him to claim the interim heavyweight championship. Pereira accepts he was hurt by a legitimate punch, but insists what followed should have been halted.

“The ref is watching that they are illegal shots, but he thinks, ‘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. If people say, ‘Why did you stop it?’ Look at the video — nobody was going to say anything about the ref…What happened, the ref should’ve faced legal consequences for that,” Pereira

Pereira revealed he had specifically flagged Gane’s tendency to foul before the fight, raising the issue directly with Dean in advance. Gane’s previous outing at UFC 321 ended in a no-contest after he poked Tom Aspinall in the eyes.