UFC superstar Alex Pereira is livid that middleweight fighter Michel Pereira was released from the promotion following his recent loss.
The UFC released Michel Pereira on Tuesday after he spent the last seven years in the world’s leading MMA promotion, posting a 10-6 record overall inside the Octagon. But following his loss to Shara Magomedov at UFC Baku, which was his fourth defeat in his last five fights, the UFC decided to cut ties with “Demolidor.”
That upset Alex Pereira because both fighters recently had a run-in with referee Herb Dean. In Alex Pereira’s interim UFC heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250 against Ciryl Gane, he felt that Dean missed several strikes to the back of his head that ultimately led to him getting finished. But Michel Pereira had even more of an argument to be upset with Dean, who let Magomedov pull his hair and poke him in the eyes during their UFC Baku bout with no point deductions.
Alex Pereira Mad the UFC Cut Michel Pereira
Taking to his social media following the news that the UFC had cut Pereira following the loss to Magomedov, Pereira showed how angry he was about hearing that his fellow Brazilian had been released after the controversial loss to Magomedov that featured poor refereeing by Dean.
“They could have sent this guy earlier, and maybe it would have been acceptable, but paying such a high price because of a refereeing mistake is impossible to accept! The UFC has already done, and continues to do, everything I ask within the organization’s reach. But it’s sad to see this and not be upset. Many athletes don’t say anything, but tomorrow it could be you going through this kind of situation, and there will be no point in sending me a message asking for help. It’s sad that not even the UFC has control over this, and because of that, our sport keeps being tarnished. My kickboxing record is 40 fights: 33 wins and 7 losses. My MMA record is 16 fights: 13 wins and 3 losses. My Vale Tudo record is 1 fight and 1 loss,” Pereira wrote on his Instagram.
What Will Be Done About Herb Dean?
After losing to Magomedov, Michel Pereira was cut by the UFC, but Dean continues to referee fights at the highest level of the sport, and it truly feels like these MMA officials never get in trouble, even when they miss fight-changing calls, as he did in the Magomedov fight. Not only was a point not being deducted, but the difference between winning and losing in that fight, as it would have been scored a draw with a point deduction, but ultimately, the fighter ended up being cut.
As you can see from Alex Pereira’s statement, he is extremely angry about what’s going on right now, as it feels like the fighters don’t have any employment security, yet these officials seemingly never get in trouble even when they screw up. Ultimately, these referees need to be held more accountable, but until then, nothing is going to change.
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