Outside Source
“Poatan” came up short in his bid to become a three-division champion when he suffered a second-round technical knockout loss to Ciryl Gane on June 14 in Washington, D.C. After the event, Pereira expressed his frustration that veteran official Herb Dean failed to acknowledge that illegal strikes that Gane landed to the back of the Brazilian’s head during the finishing sequence.
White discussed the situation during the UFC Fight Night 279 post-fight press conference on Saturday. While the UFC CEO didn’t necessarily fault Dean, he recognized Pereira’s anger as legitimate.
“If you watch the fight it’s undeniable that he got hit with some strikes to the back of the head, but in the middle of the action, when it’s going on and guys are rolling around trying to get out of it,” White said (transcription via MMAjunkie.com) “Sometimes the fouls happen. Maybe Dean should’ve said, ‘Watch the back of the head’ or warned him or something like that. But I don’t know. I can tell you this: Alex Pereira is not a whiner. And Alex Pereira doesn’t complain about things or make excuses after fights. So I have to believe that he believed that. That he truly believed that was true.”
Not a Whiner
It’s currently unclear if Pereira and his team will attempt to appeal the result. The Brazilian has stated that he plans to remain in the heavyweight division going forward.
“That’s something [an appeal] they’ll have to work out with the commission. Not my area,” White said. “Like I said: Alex Pereira is not a whiner. The guy doesn’t ever complain about anything. So you have to believe if the’s that serious about it, that he’s upset about and believes it to be true.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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