Alex Pereira typically does not complain after his fights.
However, two days after being stopped by Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250 a frustrated “Poatan” posted a candid 14-minute video blog sharing his thoughts on the loss, and how the finish itself was officiated.
The former two-weight UFC and world kickboxing champion lost via technical knockout in the second round of an interim heavyweight title matchup at the White House.
During the finishing sequence, Pereira absorbed massive damage in the form of repeated significant strikes, but some punches and elbows landed to the back of the head and Pereira addressed the uncalled fouls in an on-camera message during which he answered some questions posed to him by an off-screen cameraman.
The Brazilian star also described the jab that initially dropped him as “a lucky shot” landed by Gane, but his main issue was with how veteran referee Herb Dean handled things after the “lucky” jab landed.
Pereira described some of the punches and elbows Gane landed as “very hard shots and illegal” and shared some images of a series of distinct lumps located directly on the back of his head, which could be considered physical evidence of the fouls.
“Putting myself in the referee’s shoes, my opponent catches me and I drop,” Pereira began before also speculating on Dean’s mindset. “(Gane) starts striking. 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.”
Dean is one of the most experienced referees in the sport and regularly officiates UFC title fights and other high-profile matchups.
In fact, Pereira famously waved off Dean during the UFC 300 main event in 2024 after he was on the receiving end of a low blow from Jamahal Hill and seconds later Pereira won the fight by knockout.
Pereira chose to not censor himself when reacting to Dean’s lack of intervention in the bout with Gane and he even questioned the referee’s integrity.
“He shouldn’t have been refereeing that fight. To be honest, a guy like that should be punished,” Pereira said. “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.”
Pereira's frustration is elevated due to the fact he specifically mentioned to Dean during the pre-fight backstage rules discussion with athletic commission officials to be on the lookout for Gane’s specific controversial tendencies, including eye pokes, low blows and shots to the back of the head.
Gane has developed a reputation for regularly committing fouls during his UFC fights.
His bout prior to facing Pereira even ended in a no-contest when Gane landed a double eye poke on heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, who required multiple eye surgeries and remains out indefinitely.
“He was a coward because I warned him before,” Pereira said of Dean. “I warned him and still, that’s not a professional. He didn’t deserve to be there.”
It’s unclear what will be next for Pereira and how long he’ll need to recover from the loss and the head trauma he sustained.
Aspinall also made a video analyzing Gane’s win over Pereira and Aspinall agreed that many of the strikes Gane landed were illegal.
Pereira, who was making his heavyweight debut, added that he feels the right thing to do would be for the UFC to book an immediate rematch between him and Gane.
