Alex Pereira has not let his UFC Freedom 250 loss slide without calling out the UFC official. Following his second-round TKO defeat to Ciryl Gane in the interim heavyweight title bout at the White House Lawn, the former two-division champion took to social media to voice his frustration. His target was not just Gane, but he took a shot at veteran referee Herb Dean over how the stoppage was handled.
The ‘Poatan’ believed illegal strikes to the back of his head drastically changed the outcome of the heavyweight bout. Gane dropped the Brazilian striker with a stiff jab before swarming him on the mat. Dean stepped in to stop the contest, officially handing Gane the victory.
However, replays showed several of Gane’s follow-up elbows and hammerfists landing directly to the back of Pereira’s head. In an Instagram video, Alex Pereira detailed his perspective on the finishing sequence and called out Dean’s lack of action.
When I got hit by that jab and went down, I latched onto his legs, you know? I was throwing elbows, punches, right?” Pereira said. “And, man, the guy was desperate. He landed a shot there he couldn’t even believe, you know? And so he wanted to end the fight by any means.” (Translated from Portuguese)
I think it’s hard to put myself in the ref’s shoes…the guy hits me, I go down, he starts landing shots, and the referee sees it’s a illegal strike, but I think he’s probably thinking, “Man, how do I stop this fight?” But, dude, it’s…illegal. it’s in the rules. You wouldn’t be wrong to stop it; it’s in the rules.”(Translated from Portuguese)
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Pereira accused Gane of having a history of relying on these types of dirty strikes. He pointed directly to the French fighter’s past Octagon performances.
And, like, he does this in a lot of fights, right? If you look at his highlight reel, that’s what you see most,” Pereira added. “But the back of the head, man – punching the back of the head – you’re right there, man, you have to see it, you know? But the…guy had… that was the opportunity of a lifetime for him, you know? And the referee was right there to see it.” (Translated from Portuguese)
Previously, In October 2025, Ciryl Gane was involved in a controversial stoppage when an accidental eye poke to Tom Aspinall led to a no-contest.
Gane has yet to respond to the accusations made by the ‘Poatan’. For now, the controversial stoppage stalled Pereira’s attempt to conquer three separate weight classes.
Tom Aspinall Reacts to Alex Pereira vs Ciryl Gane Controversial UFC 250 Stoppage
Tom Aspinall has not stayed quiet about the controversial finish at UFC Freedom 250. Watching the broadcast from home, the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion quickly took issue with how Ciryl Gane secured the interim belt against Alex Pereira on the White House South Lawn. The Heavyweight saw clear rule violations as the fight ended and reacted:
They look a bit illegal. They look very illegal..He looked good. I’ll have to watch that again, it looked like there was a lot of illegal elbows going on..illegal punches.”
Aspinall already had his sights set on fighting the winner for a highly anticipated title unification clash, set for Paris later this year following his recovery from an eye injury at UFC 321.
Now, that looming undisputed title fight carries massive bad blood. Aspinall looks fully prepared to settle the heated debate inside the Octagon when they finally meet to unify the belts.
