There’s been some credit given to Alex Pereira for how he responded right after his defeat at UFC Freedom 250.
In the co-main event, Ciryl Gane stopped Pereira in their interim heavyweight title fight. It was a rough night for ‘Poatan’, who didn’t shy away from voicing his concerns over what he felt were illegal strikes to the back of the head.
Since then, ‘Poatan’ has come out and appealed his loss, claiming that the Frenchman landed several illegal strikes to the back of his head.
Pereira didn’t let the situation boil over, though. His post-fight interview was calm and measured, focusing on what he could learn rather than lashing out about what went wrong.
Sean O’Malley applauds Pereira for his message to family after UFC 250 loss
Pereira has always been recognised for how he handles setbacks, and Sunday night was no different.
Sean O’Malley, who had earlier knocked out Aiemann Zahabi in a highlight-reel moment, spoke about what he witnessed backstage after Pereira’s defeat.
“Alex Pereira being a legend, he said something to his dad and his dad was crying, his family was sad, he said ‘Hey, we’ve made other families feel like this, it’s our turn.’”
Pereira later took issue with the fight’s officiating. He called for disciplinary action against Herb Dean and requested that Dean not oversee any of his future bouts.
Dean responded by sharing an instructional video clarifying what constitutes an illegal strike to the back of the head.
Pereira is pushing for an immediate rematch and has mentioned September as a target date. However, Gane is now in line for a title shot against Tom Aspinall, meaning Pereira may have to wait until that bout concludes before getting another opportunity at the belt.
