Ciryl Gane fought beautifully en route to his second-round TKO win over Alex Pereira on Sunday night in Washington, D.C. at the White House. However, while Gane legitimately dropped Pereira with a power jab, the subsequent finish came after as many as 11 illegal blows to the back of the Brazilian’s head.
I recognized this in real time as I watched the fight and it drew an audible response from me in my office. Hours after the explosive co-main event, Home of Fight took to X to call out Gane’s controversial finish with video proof.
Key Facts At A Glance
- Result: Ciryl Gane def. Alex Pereira, second-round TKO (1:27) for the interim heavyweight title
- Event: UFC Freedom 250, White House South Lawn, June 14, 2026
- Controversy: Repeated back-of-the-head shots in the finishing sequence (as many as 11 by some counts), which are illegal in MMA
- Referee: Herb Dean
- What’s Next: Gane moves toward a Tom Aspinall unification; Pereira’s three-division bid denied
Would Gane Have Won Without the Illegal Shots?
No one can say for sure, but based on the way the fight was going, it seems safe to suggest he was headed toward a victory. Gane seemed quicker and more comfortable in the fight. After all, he dropped Pereira with a stiff jab to set up the sequence on the ground. That said, it’s tough to ignore how disoriented Pereira was after eating so many shots to the back of his head.
Remember, Khalil Rountree Jr. dropped Pereira too. He got to his feet against Gane, too. Without the back-of-the-head shots, Pereira may well have recovered and made a fight of it, the way he did against Rountree.
How Common is This When a Fighter is Going for a Finish?
Let’s not freak out and behave as if this is the only time a fighter has landed shots to the back of the head while chasing a finish. What normally happens is a referee will intervene with some sort of verbal warning. This is where referee Herb Dean dropped the ball.
If you watch him and listen during the sequence, at no time does he say, “watch the back of the head,” or deliver any command to correct Gane’s attacks. Dean is more to blame here than Gane who now has two fights in a row where illegal actions have become a major post-fight discussion. Gane fought UFC champion Tom Aspinall to a no contest after double-eye poking the Brit and forcing an end to the fight.
How Did Fighters And Fans React To The Finish?
American heavyweight Josh Hokit, who scored a TKO win over Derrick Lewis on the card, critiqued Pereira’s heavyweight move and also flagged the back-of-the-head shots. While other fighters may have shared a similar sentiment, no one gave off the impression they believed Pereira got robbed.
Even Aspinall took to his own YouTube channel call out Gane’s illegal blows in his reaction to the result.
The online reaction ran hotter, with plenty of fans echoing the foul complaints and others arguing the finish was inevitable once that clean jab landed.
Even former rival Jon Jones publicly congratulated Gane on the win, a reminder that for many the result was never really in doubt.
What’s Next For Ciryl Gane And Alex Pereira?
The only fight that makes sense for Gane is a rematch with Aspinall for the undisputed heavyweight crown. Gane was getting the better of Aspinall before the eye pokes and now there is even more legitimacy to the build. As for Pereira, a matchup with Hokit will do major numbers for the UFC. Hokit is a controversial, WWE-like character, but he’s tough and athletic.
He is the No. 5 heavyweight in the UFC and it’s a fight the American wants. However, it’s unclear if Pereira wants the fight. I asked Pereira about Hokit a week before UFC Freedom 250 and he declined to discuss the brash American. Hokit has pelted Pereira with sophomoric insults and taunts and the latter has chosen to ignore him. We’ll see if the loss to Gane makes that impossible.