Pereira accuses Gane of illegal blows to head
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- Alex Pereira accused Ciryl Gane of landing illegal blows to the back of the head during their interim heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250, releasing a social media video in Portuguese criticizing referee Herb Dean for not stopping the strikes and saying, "the guy doesn't have the guts."
- Pereira, 38, suffered a second-round TKO loss after Gane dropped him with a jab and followed with a series of unanswered elbows and punches; Pereira claimed the illegal shots were what put him in the losing position and said he had warned the referee beforehand.
- Tom Aspinall, the UFC's undisputed heavyweight champion, independently flagged the strikes as illegal during a live YouTube reaction, saying, "They look very illegal. What is going on?"
- Gane has a documented history of illegal-strike controversies: he drew criticism for back-of-the-head elbows in a 2020 TKO of Junior Dos Santos, and his October title bout against Aspinall ended in a no-contest after an accidental eye-poke.
- Aspinall has still not received medical clearance to resume training following the eye-poke and underwent eye surgery earlier this year, leaving the heavyweight picture in limbo.
- Pereira was attempting to become the first UFC fighter to win titles in three different weight classes and has not commented on whether he will stay at heavyweight or return to light heavyweight, where he won titles in 2023 and 2025.
Why it matters: Three separate illegal-strike controversies now follow Gane — back-of-head elbows in 2020, an eye-poke no-contest in October, and Pereira's accusation — creating a mounting officiating concern for the UFC heavyweight division. Pereira's silence on his division future leaves open whether the 38-year-old will pursue the historic three-division title or retreat to light heavyweight, while the actual champion he might face remains sidelined from eye surgery.
