UFC commentator Joe Rogan shared his take on the illegal strikes in the Alex Pereira vs. Ciryl Gane fight at UFC Freedom 250.
Gane defeated Pereira to claim the interim UFC heavyweight title in the main event of the UFC White House card. But the finish came under scrutiny, as several of the strikes that Gane hit Pereira with appeared to be on the back of his head before the finish took place.
Referee Herb Dean has defended himself publicly, but Pereira is still convinced that the shots were illegal. UFC president Dana White also felt that several of the strikes were illegal.
In the end, though, Gane won the fight, and Pereira lost, and although the Brazilian initially thought about appealing the stoppage, he chose to let it go.
But there’s no doubt some of the strikes that hit him were to the back of the head, at least in Rogan’s opinion.
Joe Rogan Believes Alex Pereira Was Hit With Illegal Strikes
Speaking on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast, Rogan shared his take on the illegal strieks in the Pereira vs. Gane fight.
“Look how (Gane) drops him with the jab. Now here’s the question, because one of the things that Pereira is saying is a lot of, there’s an illegal shot. A lot of the shots were illegal and to the back of the head. But a lot of them were to the side of the head, and they’re also moving. It’s a two-inch line down like a mohawk. A couple of those shots definitely landed illegally, but there’s also movement. It’s also movement and chaos. It’s not like he’s trying to deliberately,” Rogan said (via MMAjunkie.com).
Alex Pereira Hints at Retirement
Taking to his social media on Monday, Pereira once again displayed his disappointment with what happened in the Gane fight, as he teased retirement from MMA.
“Honestly, I’m afraid to go back to fighting with all this going on. I think I’ve already done my part,” Pereira wrote in an Instagram story.
Ultimately, Pereira is unlikely to retire, since he is still one of the best fighters in the sport today, and he would be leaving a lot of money on the table if he just decided to walk away.
But at the same time, he is clearly very frustrated with what happened in the fight with Gane.
Pereira is also not the only UFC fighter who has been frustrated with referee Dean lately, as Andre Fili also thought he was hit in the back of the head against Vinicius Oliveira in their fight at UFC Vegas 119.
While Dean is one of the most experienced referees in MMA, there is no doubt he needs to do a better job of watching where fighters’ strikes are landing, as he’s missed two sets of illegal strikes in back-to-back weeks, so he needs to improve in that area as an official going forward. Being an MMA referee is a hard job, but Dean hasn’t been making things easier on himself as of late.
Joe Rogan Comments on Illegal Strikes in Pereira vs. Gane