UFC superstar Alex Pereira is planning to appeal his TKO loss to Ciryl Gane that took place at UFC Freedom 250.
Pereira lost via second-round TKO after a swarm of punches from Gane caused referee Herb Dean to step in and stop the contest due to unanswered blows.
But before the final finishing sequence, there was a controversial set of strikes following a knockdown by Gane that Pereira felt landed to the back of his head. Under the Unified Rules of MMA, strikes to the back of the head are illegal. However, Dean never warned Gane of the strikes or paused the action to address them, and soon after, Pereira was finished.
He now plans to appeal the result of the contest.
Alex Pereira Appealing TKO Loss
Speaking to Nolan King of MMAjunkie.com, Pereira confirmed he is appealing the loss, and he also said that Dean will never be the referee for one of his fights ever again.
“Alex Pereira is looking at all grounds to appeal the result of his #UFCWhiteHouse bout vs. Ciryl Gane, per his management I spoke with Poatan for about 25 minutes just now. He is adamant Herb Dean errored, adding Dean will never referee him again,” King wrote on X.
I spoke with Poatan for about 25 minutes just now. He is adamant Herb Dean errored, adding Dean will never referee him again
Coming soon to @MMAJunkie…
The fact that Pereira is going to try to appeal the outcome of the fight is not surprising, since he has made it clear that he feels like Gane cheated to get the win.
“It was a lucky jab and he took advantage… that was the opportunity of a lifetime for him. This guy has a long history of it. Dirty shots, punches to the back of the head. I brought that up with (the referee) ahead of time and asked him to keep an eye on it… if you watch the footage man, multiple shots, multiple elbows (to the back of the head). (The referee) is not a man. He shouldn’t have been refereeing that fight. A guy like that should be punished,” Pereira said.
Will Alex Pereira’s Appeal Be Successful?
Quite frankly, it is very difficult for appeals in mixed martial arts to be successful, unless a fighter and his management can prove that protocols were not followed correctly.
For example, we have seen scorecards be appealed in the past if a commission tabulated the scorecards incorrectly. We have also seen some submission losses be appealed if a fighter did not tap out or go to sleep, and the referee still stopped the contest.
But knockouts are a lot more difficult to appeal, especially something like this, where Dean is adamant that there were no illegal strikes landed to the back of Pereira’s head.
Pereira is certainly going to try to appeal the result, and it’s his right as a fighter. After all, that’s why we have athletic commissions to protect the fighters.
But the athletic commissions also tend to protect their officials, so in this case, look for them to take Dean’s side of things and deny Pereira’s appeal of his TKO loss to Gane.
Alex Pereira Plans to Appeal TKO Loss to Ciryl Gane