Outside Source
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.
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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.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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