Dana White thinks Alex Pereira‘s frustration in the aftermath of UFC Freedom 250 is notable because it’s out of character from what he knows about the former two-division champion.
Pereira (13-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) has taken advantage of the many opportunities that have come his way since joining the UFC in November 2021, and it’s let to unprecedented success in a short window. His bid to become the promotion’s first three-division titleholder was stifled at the White House this month when he suffered a second-round TKO defeat to Ciryl Gane (14-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) in their interim championship bout.
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In the aftermath of the contest, Pereira has expressed outrage toward the closing sequence of the fight, where Gane seemingly landed a number of illegal blows to the back of the head as he attempted to finish the fight. He’s called for referee Herb Dean’s retirement, and also revealed interest in pursuing an appeal of the outcome.
UFC CEO White has seen Pereira’s complaints, and he takes them seriously becomes it’s not in tone with how he’s come to know the Brazilian.
“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 told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 279 post-fight news conference. “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.”
It remains to be seen if Pereira’s camp will actually file an appeal to have the result overturned. White said that’s not in his wheelhouse to comment on the validity of an appeal, but reiterated that if Pereira is pushing back this hard over what happened, then it should not be easily dismissed.
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“I don’t have any thoughts on (the appeal),” White said. “That’s something they’ll have to work out with the commission. Not my area. 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 originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Dana White reacts to Alex Pereira’s outrage at Ciryl Gane, Herb Dean
