Mixed martial arts star Alex Pereira of Brazil has accused Frenchman Ciryl Gane of landing multiple “illegal shots” during their fight for the interim UFC heavyweight title at the White House.
Gane finished off Pereira in the second round to win the title on Sunday after sending him stumbling with a right jab followed by a hammer fist. The referee then stopped the fight 1min 27sec into the round after a left to the chin.
After hitting Pereira with a jab, Gane launched a brutal floor sequence that included elbows to the back of the head. Strikes to the back of the head are illegal in MMA.
Pereira said on his social media it was difficult for him to recover from those “illegal shots” and criticized referee Herb Dean, saying he should not have been picked for their fight.
“I think if it weren’t for those punches, I wouldn’t be in that situation,” Pereira said in Portuguese in an Instagram video. “When the jab landed, I fell and grabbed his legs. Throwing elbows and punches, the guy was desperate. He landed a punch that he couldn’t even believe, and then he wanted to end the fight no matter what. The ref was there watching. The guy hits me, I fall, and he starts throwing punches. The guy sees it’s an illegal hit, but he’s there thinking, ‘Bro, how can I stop this fight?’
“Man, it’s the regulations. It’s in the rulebook. You’re wrong if you don’t stop it. That’s in the rules. What makes me more upset is that I warned him beforehand. But [the referee] doesn’t have the guts, man. He’s not a real man.”
Pereira also urged UFC chief executive Dana White to take action against Dean.
“You should set an example with him as it’s done with fighters when they ruin the image of the organization,” Pereira wrote on an Instagram story.
Dean explained his decisions in a video, saying “the rule we’re talking about is the back of the head, and that’s confusing because it’s different in boxing.”
Donald Trump celebrated his 80th birthday and the nation’s 250th anniversary with an unusual UFC show featuring seven fights within an eight-sided, wire-mesh cage on the White House South Lawn.