Alex Pereira has made little effort to hide his displeasure with the UFC’s decision to book Ciryl Gane against Josh Hokit for the heavyweight title at UFC 334. The pair will headline the November 14 event at Madison Square Garden, with the undisputed championship up for grabs.
Many fans had expected Pereira to get the next shot at the heavyweight crown after Tom Aspinall vacated the title. The controversy over the illegal blows to Pereira’s head during his UFC Freedom 250 appearance only fueled speculation that the Brazilian could be next in line. However, the former two-division champion will instead take on Sergei Pavlovich in a five-round heavyweight clash at UFC 335.
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Pereira has already questioned Gane’s route to a title shot and expressed his belief that Amanda Nunes vs. Kayla Harrison deserved to headline UFC 334 instead. Now, the Brazilian has turned his attention to Daniel Cormier, taking issue with the UFC Hall of Famer for backing the Gane vs. Hokit matchup for November 14.
Alex Pereira Says UFC Tried to Make Fans Believe Ciryl Gane vs. Josh Hokit Was the Fight They Wanted
The Brazilian believes the UFC played a role in building support for the matchup before making it official. In a recent interview with Laerte Viana, Pereira revealed that he spoke directly with UFC CBO Hunter Campbell about the fight.
He said, “I spoke directly with Hunter (Campbell), and Hunter said this would be the fight, you know, with Gane and Hokit.”
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Pereira claimed the UFC told him that a poll had shown fans wanted Gane vs. Hokit. However, he was not convinced that the public genuinely preferred the matchup over other options. He explained how he initially expected to get the call before learning about the poll.
He added, “When I released a video (on my YouTube), I was still expecting, like, man, they wanted to book me, you know? But after that video, the organization said they did kind of a poll, a vote, I didn’t see it, and that the public wanted it, but after they booked this fight and announced it, I didn’t see it that way. At first, the organization said they did a poll and stuff and that this would be the fight, you know?”
Although Pereira accepted that the UFC had the final say, he suggested the promotion had already started preparing fans for the matchup before announcing it. He specifically pointed to Daniel Cormier and other influential figures who publicly backed the idea of Gane fighting Hokit.
He explained, “I said, ‘Okay’, I didn’t agree with it, but they’re the ones in charge. It’s all kind of manipulated, you know? I saw some things afterwards, even before they released the announcement, like Cormier and other guys saying it would be a good fight. Like, when I say people, it’s influencers, people who have a lot of engagement.”
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Pereira went further, alleging that the UFC wanted these influencers to generate excitement around the fight so fans would be more receptive to it once the announcement came.
“The UFC were like, ‘Go ahead and say that this fight is good so when we drop it, the public will already be okay with it.’ They did everything to make people believe this is the fight.”
The former two-division champion also took a direct shot at Cormier, questioning his reasoning during a conversation about the heavyweight title picture. Pereira recalled asking the UFC Hall of Famer whether beating Gane would make him the champion, but he was not satisfied with the response.
He revealed, “You take Cormier, when I spoke to him, I asked him, ‘Hey, this fight, if I become champion against Gane, am I the champion?’ He said, ‘Well, I don’t think so; you have to win’, so the guy has some opinions that don’t make sense… They’re trying to influence people to think that this would be the best fight.”
While Gane vs. Hokit has plenty of intrigue, a potential rematch between Pereira and Gane could have generated significant interest as well. However, after suffering a knockout loss to the Frenchman on June 14, Pereira will now have to get past Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 to strengthen his case for another title shot.
Pereira has made his frustration with the UFC’s decision clear, and it remains to be seen whether Cormier will respond to the Brazilian’s latest criticism.
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