Pereira accuses UFC of using commentators as 'influencers' to sell Gane vs. Hokit over his rematch

Alex Pereira has accused the UFC of using its own commentators as “influencers” to manufacture fan support for Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit — a fight he believes was engineered to sideline his rematch claim for the heavyweight title.

Speaking to Laerte Viana, the former middleweight and light heavyweight champion said the promotion told him it had conducted a poll and determined Gane vs. Hokit was the fight to make for UFC 334 on November 14 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Pereira accepted the decision reluctantly but made clear he did not believe it was organic.

“It was all kind of manipulated, you know?” Pereira said. “I saw some things even before they made the announcement, with Cormier and other guys saying it was going to be a good fight. When I say these people are influencers, people with a lot of engagement and followers, [the UFC tells them], ‘Go out there and say this is a good fight because when we announce it, the audience will already be okay with it since they’ll agree with you.’ I think they did everything they could to try to make people believe this was the fight to make.”

Gane stopped Pereira in the second round at the UFC White House card in June to claim the interim heavyweight belt. Hokit earned his shot by knocking out Derrick Lewis on the same card, improving to 4-0 in the promotion. The pair will now contest the undisputed title while Tom Aspinall remains sidelined with an eye injury.

Pereira said he has always enjoyed a friendly relationship with Daniel Cormier — the two are known for playful wrestling encounters backstage during fight weeks — but questioned the former two-division champion’s reasoning. He recalled asking Cormier directly whether beating Gane would make him the undisputed champion, only to be told it probably would not.

“So, you know, the guy has opinions that don’t make any sense,” Pereira said. “Now this guy who was a nobody is suddenly somebody. Some of the things Cormier said about Hokit just don’t make sense. If it were some other guy, fine, but what has the guy even done?”

Pereira, who remains committed to pursuing a third world title at heavyweight, will co-headline UFC 335 on December 12 against Sergei Pavlovich at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas — one event after Gane defends the interim belt against Hokit.