Longtime MMA referee Herb Dean broke down the controversial stoppage in the Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane fight at UFC Freedom 250.
The interim UFC heavyweight title was on the line between Pereira and Gane in the co-main event of UFC Freedom 250, which took place this past Sunday at the White House in Washington, D.C.
In the second round, Gane dropped Pereira with a huge punch. While Pereira was on the ground, Gane landed several strikes to Pereira’s head, including several which appeared to land on the back of the Brazilian’s head, which is a foul under the Unified Rules of MMA.
But Dean did not stop the fight, and Gane went on to win by TKO. Pereira is now very upset at Dean for not calling the strikes illegal, and he has said he will be appealing the result.
Dean, though, is standing by his ruling.
Herb Dean Fires Back at Alex Pereira
In a video posted on his Instagram, Dean explained the back-of-the-head rule in MMA and maintained that he called the fight between Gane and Pereira correctly.
“The White House card was amazing. I can’t imagine a way that it could have been better. I can tell by some of the comments online that I owe you guys an explanation about the rules and how I refereed the fight. First of all, all respect to both fighters. I’m talking about Gane and Pereira. Amazing fight. OK, so let’s get into it with this rule.” Dean said (h/t MMAFighting.com).
“The rule we’re talking about is the back of the head [rule], and that’s confusing, because it’s different than boxing. The way we enforce this rule is we focus on the nape of the neck. And that’s really what the rule should be called. The nape of the neck, or occipital junction, covers the spine and covers a line, right here, with one-inch variance to either side. So, this is what we go over in the rules meeting. I will let them know that this area (holding his and over the nape of the neck) is a foul. Off limits. This area (punches the side and back of the head) is a fair blow. Here (punches the other rear side of the head) is a fair blow. Here (over and behind the ear) is a fair blow, here (to the back of the neck) is a foul. Hopefully that’s useful to you guys, and clears things up.”
Alex Pereira Appealing TKO Loss
Although Dean is maintaining that the strikes were legal blows, it isn’t stopping Pereira from appealing the result of the fight.
That being said, it’s not easy to get results overturned in MMA, as athletic commissions typically do not like to go against the original ruling unless there is clear and conclusive evidence of a mistake.
In this case, while some of the strikes did appear to hit the back of the head, it wasn’t completely clear, and with Dean standing by his original ruling of a TKO win for Gane, the odds of Pereira seeing the result of the fight overturned are very low.
Herb Dean Breaks Down Controversial Alex Pereira Stoppage Loss