Ciryl Gane defeated Alex Pereira by TKO at 1 minute 27 seconds of the second round to win the interim UFC heavyweight title at UFC Freedom 250 on June 14, 2026. The bout took place on the White House South Lawn during celebrations for Donald Trump's 80th birthday and the nation’s 250th anniversary [1, 2, 3, 4, 5].
During the fight, Gane dropped Pereira with a jab and followed up with a series of elbows and punches as Pereira was on the ground or trying to get up. Some of those strikes appeared to land on the back of Pereira’s head, an area considered illegal under Unified MMA Rules [1, 2, 3, 4].
Pereira publicly accused Gane of intentionally landing illegal shots to the back of the head, saying the strikes made his recovery difficult and may have decisively affected the outcome. Pereira said he had warned referee Herb Dean about Gane’s history of illegal strikes during the pre-fight rules meeting. He sharply criticized Dean for not stopping or warning Gane, calling him "not a man" and accusing him of lacking courage and integrity. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
"I think if it weren't for those punches, I wouldn't be in that situation," Pereira said in a post-fight interview. "He landed a punch that he couldn't even believe, and then he wanted to end the fight no matter what. The ref was there watching. The guy sees it's an illegal hit... You're wrong if you don't stop it. That's in the rules. What makes me more upset is that I warned him beforehand. But the guy doesn't have the guts. He's not a real man," he added [2].
Referee Herb Dean responded publicly on June 17, defending his officiating. He said the term "back of the head" is confusing under MMA rules and clarified the prohibited area is specifically the nape of the neck, not the entire back of the head. Dean acknowledged he did not give a verbal warning to Gane during the fight but maintained his enforcement was consistent with the rule as he interprets it [1, 5]. "The rule we're talking about is the back of the head, which is confusing. It's different in boxing, and the way we enforce this rule is we focus on the nape of the neck, which is really what the rule should be called," Dean said [1].
UFC heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall also criticized Gane’s use of elbows during the fights, calling them "cheating." "It looked like there was a lot of illegal elbows going on. They look a bit illegal. They look very illegal. What is going on?" he said [1, 4].
Pereira, 38, has called for disciplinary action against both Gane and referee Dean, urging UFC president Dana White to intervene and impose legal consequences [5].
The UFC has not announced any formal review or decisions related to the accusations. Meanwhile, the sport’s regulatory bodies may examine details of the fight and referee conduct in coming days.
