Alex Pereira Fires Seven-Word Dig at Tom Aspinall After Eye Poke Controversy

UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira has hit out at Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane following the controversial end to their heavyweight title fight.

On Saturday night, UFC heavyweight champion Aspinall entered the octagon for the first time in over a year to defend his belt against top contender Gane at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

After a competitive opening four minutes that saw both men land some big blows, the fight was stopped after Gane accidentally poked the champion in both eyes, causing an injury.

Unfortunately, the injury to Aspinall's eyes rendered him unable to continue, meaning that the fight was declare as a no contest, with a rematch likely to be booked some time in the near future.

After the fight, several of the biggest names in MMA have spoken out to give their opinion on the controversial finish, and current light heavyweight champion Pereira clearly wasn't impressed.

Regardless of who would have won the fight between Aspinall and Gane had it continued, many fans had hoped that the winner would than face the popular Pereira in their next heavyweight title defence.

Having already won both the middleweight and light heavyweight titles, Pereira has recently spoken out about his hopes to move to heavyweight and become the first man to hold a world title in three different weight classes.

Pereira will now have to wait a while longer if he hopes to face either Aspinall or Gane next year, but it appears that this hasn't necessarily bothered him as it's not just a title fight that Pereira is interested in taking at heavyweight.

During a video posted on Instagram, the light heavyweight champion showed that he was clearly not impressed by the result, while teasing that his next fight could be against former champion Jon Jones at The White House.

In his reaction to the heavyweight title fight, Pereira shook his head before laughing at the result, with the caption: "Let’s Make the heavyweight Division Great Again!"

Pereira's post, clearly referencing US President Donald Trump's political slogan, comes after the Brazilian called for a fight with Jones after he reclaimed the light heavyweight belt by knocking out Magomed Ankalaev in October.

Since then, Pereira has continued to speak out about his desires to fight Jones when the White House card takes place next summer, even admitting that he would prioritise it over a heavyweight title fight.

When asked about the possibility of taking on the winner of the heavyweight title fight on UFC's Last Fight show, Pereira replied: "No, I want a superfight. It would be at the White House against Jon Jones. That's a superfight."

And it appears that Jones is more than willing to face Pereira, as he took to social media shortly after the disastrous finish to Saturday's title fight, he took to social media to accept the Brazilian's call out.

Posting on X, Jones revealed: "Alex, I’d be down to bring the highest skill level to the White House. I appreciate the respect you showed, let’s dance."