Pereira Blames Herb Dean For White House Loss

Alex Pereira has broken his silence on the White House defeat — and his target is not Ciryl Gane.

The former two-division champion accepted the stoppage loss to Gane at UFC Freedom 250 ended his bid to become the UFC's first three-division titleholder. What he will not accept is the manner in which the finish was allowed to unfold.

Pereira has directed his anger squarely at referee Herb Dean, alleging that illegal strikes to the back of his head were permitted to continue. Pereira acknowledged he was hurt by a legitimate shot. His argument is that what came after crossed a line that Dean failed to enforce.

"The ref is watching that they are illegal shots, but he thinks, '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. If people say, 'Why did you stop it?' Look at the video — nobody was going to say anything about the ref. What happened, the ref should've faced legal consequences for that,” Pereira

The context adds weight to his frustration. Pereira revealed he had specifically flagged Gane's tendency to foul in the prefight meeting with Dean, raising concerns before a single punch had been thrown. Gane's previous fight at UFC 321 had ended in a no-contest after he poked Tom Aspinall in both eyes — a result that kept the heavyweight title picture unresolved for months and sent the British champion into surgery.

Gane, for his part, now holds the interim heavyweight title and is the mandatory challenger for Tom Aspinall's undisputed belt. The manner of his victory has been celebrated as one of the most significant performances at heavyweight in years.