Alexander Volkanovski defends Alex Pereira, thinks Ciryl Gane’s illegal strikes made ‘direct contact on the brain’

Alexander Volkanovski has publicly backed Alex Pereira's complaints regarding illegal strikes during Pereira's UFC heavyweight interim title fight loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC White House. Pereira was knocked out in the second round but has since argued that multiple illegal strikes to the back of the head, compounded by referee Herb Dean's failure to intervene, compromised his ability to recover.

In a detailed YouTube breakdown of the bout, Volkanovski acknowledged Gane's superior performance while validating Pereira's concerns. Volkanovski described seeing "a lot of back-of-the-head shots" during the sequence when Pereira shot for a single-leg takedown in an attempt to recover from a jarring jab. The multiple impacts to an illegal target area, he explained, would have made recovery nearly impossible for any fighter.

Volkanovski emphasized he does not believe Gane acted deliberately or maliciously, noting that finishing sequences sometimes involve such infractions. However, he argued Dean should have verbally warned Gane to avoid the back of the head—a standard referee intervention that would have prompted Gane to adjust his angles. Volkanovski stated that a single warning could have changed the fight's trajectory, potentially preventing the accumulation of illegal strikes that left Pereira severely compromised. While sympathetic to Pereira's frustration with Dean, Volkanovski stopped short of calling for the veteran referee's punishment, focusing instead on the broader discussion about officiating consistency in high-pressure finishing sequences.