Alex Pereira blasts Herb Dean over missed illegal shots at UFC Freedom 250

Alex Pereira tore into referee Herb Dean after his second-round stoppage loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250, claiming illegal strikes to the back of his head contributed to the finish.

The former two-division UFC champion lost his bid to become a three-division titleholder when Gane stopped him Sunday night on the South Lawn in Washington, D.C., per MMA Mania. In his first comments since the defeat, Pereira said Gane threw desperate strikes that Dean should have flagged.

Pereira warned Dean before the fight about Gane's history

"After the jab I dropped, I grabbed his legs," Pereira said, according to MMA Mania. "It was there, throwing elbows, punches, he's desperate. He threw a shot he didn't even believe in, and he wanted to finish the fight in whatever way." Pereira continued: "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 he raised concerns about Gane's foul history during the pre-fight rules meeting. He asked translator Plinio Cruz to tell Dean he was worried about dirty shots, pointing to previous incidents involving Gane landing eye pokes against Tom Aspinall, a groin strike against Jon Jones, and punches that Junior dos Santos complained were to the back of the head.

Gane won the interim heavyweight title with the finish. Pereira dropped to 14-3 as a professional.

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• MMA Mania — Alex Pereira destroys referee Herb Dean for missing ‘illegal’ strikes at UFC Freedom 250 – ‘He’s not a real man’