Ciryl Gane beat Alex Pereira at the UFC White House event to win the interim heavyweight title, but the fight was not without controversy. The French kickboxer threw some pretty questionable strikes to the back of Pereira’s head after a rocked “Poatan” shot for a takedown, leading to the end of the fight (watch the highlights here).
“I think every time anybody fights, the referee should be watching everything that happens,” White said. “And I say it all the time, and I’ll say it again: no reffing anywhere is perfect. It could be an NBA game, it could be an NFL game, definitely some fights. It’s just never gonna be perfect.”
“Well, I also think that 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, you know, when it’s going on and guys are rolling around trying to get out of it, sometimes some fouls happen, and maybe Dean should have said, ‘Hey, watch the back of the head,’ or, you know, warned him or something like that. But I don’t know.”
Some have suggested Pereira’s media tour complaining about the illegal shots is making him look bad, but White shot that down.
“I can tell you this,” White concluded. “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.”
Pereira initially suggested he’d file an appeal over the loss, but later dropped the idea in favor of an immediate rematch. White didn’t share his opinion on that, but we have to imagine if undisputed champion Tom Aspinall is healthy enough (following another Gane-related illegal blow) to compete, it’ll be Aspinall vs. Gane next and Pereira will have to settle for a different match-up.
