O'Malley reveals Pereira warned referee about Gane's illegal elbows before UFC White House TKO loss

Alex Pereira predicted exactly how Ciryl Gane would hurt him — and the referee still let it happen. At UFC White House on June 14, Gane stopped Pereira in the second round of their interim heavyweight title co-main event, landing multiple 12-to-6 elbows to the back of Pereira’s head before closing the show with a standing TKO flurry. Referee Herb Dean issued no warning or deduction for the illegal blows.

Bantamweight Sean O’Malley, who knocked out Aiemann Zahabi on the same card, has now shed light on a telling detail from the pre-fight rules meeting. Speaking on YouTube, O’Malley revealed that Pereira — through a translator — had specifically raised the issue of back-of-the-head shots with the referee before the bout even began.

“You know what’s funny, in the rules meeting when Pereira was talking to the ref, they were having the translator go over, like, ‘Back of the head,’” O’Malley said. “Because I remember when Gane finished [JDS] and elbowing him in the back of the head.”

The concern was well-founded. Gane (14-2) has drawn repeated criticism from fans and analysts for illegal strikes during finishes. He previously landed back-of-the-head shots on Junior dos Santos and Tai Tuivasa while stopping both men. Most recently, Gane poked heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall simultaneously in both eyes at UFC 320, a sequence that ended in a no contest after the eye poke was ruled unintentional.

Against Pereira (13-4), the sequence that drew the most scrutiny came midway through the second round. Gane rocked “Poatan” with a jab and swarmed him, forcing Pereira to turtle up against the canvas. It was in that position that Gane dropped the 12-to-6 elbows — a strike explicitly banned under the unified rules of MMA — before Pereira recovered to his feet, only to be finished moments later by a follow-up flurry.

Dean’s decision not to intervene has intensified the debate around officiating consistency, particularly given that Pereira’s corner had flagged the precise scenario before the opening bell. Gane’s interim heavyweight title win now places the pattern of illegal strikes under renewed scrutiny heading into whatever unification bout follows.