Alex Pereira campaigned for a rematch with Ciryl Gane for the UFC heavyweight title after coming up short in his first attempt back in June, but the promotion opted to go a different route and instead booked Gane vs. Josh Hokit for UFC 334 on Nov. 14. For “Poatan”, the UFC used its own commentators to convince fans that was the right move.
Gane scored a second-round knockout against Pereira for the interim belt at the UFC White House card in June, just moments after Hokit improved to 4-0 in the promotion with a knockout against Derrick Lewis, and they will now face off for the undisputed gold while Tom Aspinall remains sidelined with an eye injury.
Pereira, a former middleweight and light heavyweight champion who insisted on the idea of staying at heavyweight to pursue a third title, said he was informed by the UFC that “they had done some poll and all that, and that this was going to be the fight.”
“Okay, I didn’t agree with it, but they’re the ones in charge,” Pereira said in an interview with Laerte Viana. “It was all kind of manipulated, you know? 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,’ you know? I think they did everything they could to try to make people believe this was the fight to make.”
Pereira has always had a good relationship with Cormier, jokingly wrestling backstage whenever they meet backstage during UFC fight weeks, but said the former two-division champion is “kind of crazy” if he thinks Gane vs. Hokit “would be the best fight” for the UFC heavyweight belt right now.
Gane vs. Hokit will serve as the main event for Madison Square Garden in New York, while Pereira co-headlines the following numbered event on Dec. 12 versus Sergei Pavlovich at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena.
“When I asked [Cormier], ‘If I become champion by beating Gane, will I be the champion?’ He said, ‘Man, I don’t think so,’” Pereira said. “So, you know, the guy has opinions that don’t make any sense. Now this guy who was a nobody is suddenly somebody, you know? They’re trying to influence people into thinking this would be the best fight. I think that’s the only explanation, man. Either that, or the guy’s kind of crazy. 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?”