Alex Pereira teases retirement over Herb Dean controversy

Former UFC two-division champion Alex Pereira has hinted at walking away from the sport over what he views as dangerous officiating by referee Herb Dean.

Pereira posted to Instagram Stories that he's reluctant to compete again following the back-of-the-head strikes he absorbed during his interim heavyweight title loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250 earlier this month. "Honestly, I'm afraid to go back to fighting with all this going on," Pereira wrote, per MMA Mania. "I think I've already done my part."

Pereira joins Fili in criticizing Dean's officiating

The Brazilian appeared to take multiple shots to the prohibited zone after Gane dropped him in their co-main event bout at the White House on June 14. Pereira's complaint gained fresh traction last weekend when featherweight Andre Fili raised a similar issue following his technical knockout loss to Vinicius Oliveira at UFC Vegas 119.

Fili told his followers he was managing the exchanges until an illegal blow changed the fight. "I'm very frustrated because it was an illegal shot that started the end of the fight for me," Fili wrote on Instagram, according to the report. "I'm not especially happy that Herb let those go. I'm not especially happy that he let two or three of them go."

Dean responded to the criticism by suggesting fighters avoid positioning that puts them at risk for accidental fouls. Pereira has held titles at middleweight and heavyweight/" class="internal-link text-bone underline decoration-ash/30 hover:decoration-gold underline-offset-2">light heavyweight and challenged for the interim heavyweight strap in his most recent outing.

Reported via:

• MMA Mania — Alex Pereira ‘afraid’ to make UFC return, teases retirement in wake of Herb Dean scandal