Alex Pereira is taking action as he’s confident that things weren’t handled properly during his loss on Sunday at UFC Freedom 250 at the White House.
Pereira, who lost to Ciryl Gane by a second-round TKO, plans to appeal the defeat as he alleges his opponent hit him illegally in the back of his head.
“I had a long conversation with my manager last night,” Pereira told MMA Junkie on Wednesday through an interpreter. “We are going to pursue this legally. We’re going to talk to our lawyers. The bill is going to come from some people.”
“I might fight for some time. We don’t know how long. Eventually, I’m going to retire. I am speaking for the new generation… This can end up really bad,” Pereira added.
The 38-year-old Pereira attempted to become the first UFC fighter to win titles in three different weight classes at Freedom 250, but couldn’t respond as Gane beat him with a set of elbows and punches.
Pereira criticized referee Herb Dean for his calls and even went as far as to say that he never wants Dean to referee one of his matches again.
“Are we saying these shots could’ve switched the results of the fights? It could have. It could not have,” Pereira said. “We’re not blaming it on this. But maybe with all those shots, I could’ve came back much better on the feet than when I took all those shots.”
“The more it started sinking in my head, I saw how bad was the referee’s posture. He did not look to protect my physical integrity of that fight, which is his job.”
As a response to Pereira claiming he missed a blatant foul from Gane, Dean posted a video trying to clarify the back-of-the-head rule and said many people misinterpret where on the head it’s illegal to strike.
Still, the video did little to convince Pereira that he wasn’t done wrong at the White House.