Referee Expert on Whether Ciryl Gane's KO Over Alex Pereira Was 'Illegal'

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An MMA refereeing expert has weighed in on the ongoing controversy surrounding the way in which the recent heavyweight slobberknocker between Ciryl Gane and Alex Pereira played out on the South Lawn of The White House in Washington, D.C. on Sunday, the 20th of June.

Much had been made, pre-fight, about Pereira's chances of becoming the first-ever three-division champion in the UFC, as the Brazilian striker made his way to the biggest weight class following extraordinary successes at middleweight and light heavyweight, too.

And even though Gane was unsuccessful in two shots at the heavyweight belt, he still showed in the round that his No Contest with Tom Aspinall lasted, that he could cause problems, even if an opponent complained about fouling. And so, as Gane finished Pereira with strikes in the second round, it was, perhaps, no surprise to hear Pereira complain later that it was all "illegal".

A rules official explained whether the shots were as "dirty" as Pereira alleged.

The two-division champion, Alex Pereira, wants to see Herb Dean face consequences over refereeing of Ciryl Gane UFC fight…

McCarthy, who once refereed some of the UFC's biggest fights, spoke on the situation to MMA Junkie Radio. "Pereira gets hurt, he goes down, and Gane goes after him, and he starts swinging," McCarthy said.

"He hits him with a couple of really hard shots. They were all legal, right to the side of the head and as he goes in, he starts to go down, and he starts throwing elbows."

It is the elbow strikes in particular that appears to have polarized fans and the industry, with critics arguing it is some of these shots that hit the back of Poatan's head.

"What you have to understand is he's throwing an elbow, but he's also being pushed by Alex, who's grabbing a leg and now pushing forward, which changes as someone's trying to throw something," McCarthy explained. "Your target can be changed by the momentum or the push or just the body in motion of the opponent."

He continued: "And that's why, in the back, when we're going over our fight instructions, we talk to the fighters and say, 'Look, if you start to open up, and you start to hit that person, and you're going after that side trying to target the ears, and then their head moves or their body position moves, and you hit them square to the back of the head, it's not on you'.

"I can't ask you to stop that shot, but you're going to hear me call out and tell you, 'Watch the back of the head.' When I say watch the back of the head, what it means to you is that I'm calling out your name saying, 'Ciryl, that's on him. He's the one that caused that, but I can't have you come with a second one now in the same area.'"

For Pereira, he wants the referee in question, Herb Dean, to be "punished."

What is also unlikely is Pereira's direct request to the UFC over an "immediate rematch" when considering Gane's desire to unify his recently-won interim title with Tom Aspinall's championship in September in Paris, France.

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