It
was a frustrating night for “Poatan” at UFC White House. |
Getty/UFC
While Alex
Pereira admits that Ciryl Gane
rocked him in their UFC White House matchup, the Brazilian star
also believes what followed deserved some closer examination.
“Poatan” was on the defensive after being hurt by a Gane jab in
their interim heavyweight title bout on Sunday, but during the
ensuing salvo, “Bon Gamin” appeared to land multiple 12-to-6 elbows
to the back of his opponent’s head. While Pereira did return to his
feet, Gane ultimately finished the job with more powerful punches
at the 1:27 mark of Round 2.
In a video on YouTube, Pereira addressed the loss as well as Dean’s
officiating in the heat of the moment.
“Putting myself in the referee’s shoes, my opponent’s there and
catches me, I drop, he starts striking,” Pereira said. “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.
“If people say, ‘Why did you stop it?’ Look at the video; nobody
was going to say anything about the ref. In that scenario, people
give him credit as a man. But now he is not a man. He shouldn’t
have been refereeing that fight. To be honest, a guy like that
should be punished. 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 was well aware of Gane’s penchant for fouls, which is
something he claimed to have addressed during the rules meeting
before the fight.
“It’s a contact sport, but on the back of the head? You’re right
there, man, you have to be seeing it. But that was the opportunity
of a lifetime for him, and the referee was right there to see it,”
Pereira said. “The day before the fight, we had a rules meeting. I
asked [coach] Plinio [Cruz] to translate for him, and I told him,
‘Look, man, eye poke, groin strikes, those things can happen. It’s
not supposed to, but it can happen. But this guy has a long history
of it.’ Dirty shots, throwing punches to the back of the head,
elbows. I saw some videos, so I was worried. So I brought that up
with him ahead of time and asked him to keep an eye on it.”
“Poatan” admitted that Gane did hurt him prior to the fouls, but he
also thinks that the elbows hindered his ability to recover.
“If you watch the footage, multiple shots there, multiple elbows,”
Pereira said. “OK, sure, the jab, but given everything that
happened, illegal. I was getting up, it became difficult to
recover, but I believe that if it wasn’t for those shots I
[wouldn’t] be in that situation and could’ve possibly recovered.
Maybe not, but they were very hard shots and illegal.”
No Regrets
Pereira revealed that he has already asked the promotion for an
immediate rematch with Gane, who is expected to face Tom
Aspinall in a title unification bout. It’s currently unclear if
the UFC will grant his request. The Brazilian was attempting to
make history by becoming the first three-division champion in UFC
history, and despite the result, he doesn’t regret making the move
to heavyweight.
“Like I said in the Octagon, if I hadn’t taken a risk every time I
fought, I would not be who I am today,” Pereira said. “Third belt,
nobody has done it. Nobody. Coming from middleweight, light
heavyweight, then heavyweight, it’s very difficult, but within
reality. Obviously, for some mistakes, it wasn’t this time, but
those of you who know me know how I come back. I will be back
stronger.
“In respect to training, do I need to change my training? I think I
did everything right. I was good in the fight. The strategy was
being put into practice, all the ideas me and my team had, it is
what it is. Risks are there. The payoff in the fight game is a bit
complicated. The time can come for something good, other times bad,
that’s how it is. But like I said, for those who know me, be
certain in how I’ll return. I’ll be back stronger, focused like
always, dedicated like always, that’s it. I’m happy. I’m happy with
everything.”