UFC superstar Alex Pereira says that he is still upset at Herb Dean after his reffing blunder at UFC Freedom 250.
Pereira was dropped by a Ciryl Gane jab and then hit several times in the back of the head, shots that are illegal under the Unified Rules of MMA. Yet, Dean did not deduct any points from Gane for the illegal strikes.
“Poatan” has made it clear that he felt like Dean erred during the bout, and he has spoken out several times against the long-time MMA official.
Now, nearly two months after the fight, Pereira is still upset at Dean.
Alex Pereira Still Upset at Herb Dean
Speaking to The Mac Life in a recent interview, Pereira admitted that he still has a bone to pick with Dean for the way he handled Gane’s illegal strikes at UFC Freedom 250, though he is not upset at Gane, since he feels like it’s the referee’s job to officiate the bout.
“Mistakes happen in fights. Fighters are obviously under a lot of adrenaline, and kind of taken by the moment, so things happen. But I don’t think the ref has the benefit of not being in there and being emotional or anything else,” Pereira said (via MMAFighting.com).
“I got jabbed, I felt it, and maybe I could have recovered better. I had a lot of legal blows, then some illegal blows, and I just think the ref needs to be the one to step in and really see what’s legal and what’s not legal. That’s not necessarily the fighter’s place.”
Alex Pereira Still Committed to Heavyweight
Though Pereira’s UFC heavyweight debut did not go the way that he planned, he said that he still plans on sticking around at the UFC’s heaviest weight class.
“The plan is to stay at heavyweight. That’s the mission I have in front of me. I want to get that belt, and I’m going to have that opportunity,” Pereira said.
We’ll see what the UFC matchmakers do as far as Pereira’s next booking goes, but based on the rankings, Josh Hokit seems like an ideal next opponent.
Like HEAVY’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
The post Alex Pereira Still Upset at Herb Dean After UFC Reffing Blunder appeared first on HEAVY.