Oliveira accuses Herb Dean of ignoring illegal strikes in Pereira-Gane title fight

Charles Oliveira has become the latest high-profile UFC fighter to publicly criticise referee Herb Dean, targeting his inaction over illegal strikes thrown by Ciryl Gane against Alex Pereira during their co-main event bout at UFC Freedom 250.

Gane won the fight, but the result has been overshadowed by widespread controversy over shots that appeared to land on the back of Pereira’s head. Oliveira, the former UFC lightweight champion and current BMF titleholder, broke down the sequence in detail.

“Poatan reacted the right way [after the knockdown], going for the legs to defend,” Oliveira told MMA Fighting. “Then, in the middle of that chaos — not because he’s Brazilian, but the whole world saw it and it was obvious — some shots landed to the back of the head when they shouldn’t have.”

Oliveira joins Henry Cejudo, Jorge Masvidal and Dominick Cruz in criticising Dean, with Pereira himself leading the backlash through repeated social media posts expressing his frustration.

The Brazilian went further by drawing a direct comparison to his own title-winning night against Michael Chandler at UFC 262, alleging that Chandler had poked his eye and landed strikes to the back of his head during that contest — and questioning what the consequences of an early stoppage might have been for his career.

“If I had lost to Michael Chandler that night, if the referee had stopped the fight, would my career have continued with the same momentum? Would I have gone on the run that I did?” Oliveira said.

He placed the burden of responsibility squarely on the officiating. “I think there’s a referee there to understand what’s right and what’s wrong, whether it’s time to stop the action or not,” he added. “I put all the responsibility on the referee, just like I did with the referee in my fight. I think he should have stopped the fight and said, ‘Man, you’re doing something wrong.’”

The mounting criticism from multiple former champions and contenders signals that the debate over Dean’s performance at UFC Freedom 250 is unlikely to fade quickly, with Pereira’s camp continuing to push the issue publicly.