Joe Rogan gives Ciryl Gane the benefit of the doubt for his controversial fight-ending sequence vs. Alex Pereira.
Gane (14-2 MMA, 11-2 UFC) finished Pereira by Round 2 TKO in their interim heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250 last week. Pereira complained that after Gane dropped him with a jab, he landed numerous illegal blows to the back of his head which referee Herb Dean failed to acknowledge.
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Dean defended himself by clarifying which part of the back of the head is considered illegal, and got John McCarthy’s support. UFC commentator and podcast host Rogan says it’s difficult for Gane to aim when Pereira (13-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) is moving – even though he agrees that several shots landed illegally.
“And even like feinting takedowns, it’s not like he committed to those, but he’s got him thinking about it,” Rogan said of Gane vs. Pereira on his “Joe Rogan Experience.” “Look how he 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.”
Trevor Wittman asked Rogan if the shots to the back of the head finished the fight.
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“No, it kept going,” Rogan said. “He caught him with a big elbow and rocked him. I mean Pereira was in real trouble. He got f*cked up, and Ciryl Gane did a fantastic job. He really put it on him. That was a good stoppage.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Joe Rogan says movement factored in Gane’s ‘illegal shots’ vs. Pereira
