Herb Dean responds after Alex Pereira accuses Ciryl Gane of cheating during UFC White House card

Herb Dean has hit back at Alex Pereira and defended his officiating after he was accused of facilitating cheating during the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House.

There was huge controversy after Ciryl Gane defeated Pereira via TKO to win the interim heavyweight title over the weekend, after Pereira alleged Gane had landed several illegal strikes to the back of his head. It meant Pereira was unsuccessful in his attempt to become the first fighter to win belts in three different divisions.

The Brazilian heavily criticised referee Dean for his inaction during the fight and demanded a review. There is somewhat of a grey area regarding what is classified as a dangerous strike to the back of the head, which is down to the referee to interpret during each bout.

Dean has since released a social media video to explain why he reached his decision at the White House event, though there is still a fair argument that he should have been more vocal at the time and issued a verbal warning to Gane.

"I can tell by some of the comments online that I owe you guys an explanation about the rules and how I refereed the fight," Dean said in a video. "All respect to both fighters, I am talking about Gane and Pereira, amazing fight."

Dean then brought in a volunteer so he could demonstrate his officiating and how he applied the rules over the weekend. "The rule we are talking about is the back of the head, and that's confusing because it is different in boxing. The way we enforce this rule is we focus on the nape of the neck," he added while pointing to the area on the volunteer.

"That is really what the rule should be called. The nape of the neck, or occipital junction, also covers the spine and covers a line right here (on the back of the skull) with one-inch variants to either side.

🚨 Herb Dean defends his officiating after Alex Pereira accused him of allowing illegal shots

“I owe you guys an explanation about the rules and how I refereed the fight.” https://t.co/1eygt1SsJp pic.twitter.com/LEc9zV1n6p

— Happy Punch (@HappyPunch) June 16, 2026

"This is what we go over in the rules meeting. I would let them know that this area is a foul: off limits. That this area (on the side of the skull) is a fair blow. Here is a fair blow."

Dean then turned his volunteer to the side once again to showcase which areas of the head he believed were legitimate targets and which would be classified as fouls.

Although it might not have changed the minds of many fans, it was interesting to hear Dean's explanation and how he interpreted the rules.

Pereira hits out at Dean after Gane defeat

Speaking on his YouTube channel after the fight, Pereira was fiercely critical of the veteran referee for allowing so many hits to the back of his head.

“If you watch the footage, man, multiple shots there, multiple elbows,” Pereira said in Portuguese. "Okay, sure, the jab? [Thumbs up] Okay. But given everything that happened, I was getting up and it became difficult to recover.

“But I believe that if it wasn’t for those shots, I wouldn’t have been in that situation and could have possibly recovered. Maybe not, they were very hard shots, illegal shots, but it is what it is. It’s very difficult to prepare, to dedicate yourself, to get there.

Alex Pereira shows off the marks on the back of his head after his fight with Ciryl Gane pic.twitter.com/IOOKaiYPty

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) June 16, 2026

“There’s a guy whose only job is to do that. I told him beforehand. I think it’s hard to put myself in the referee’s shoes. My opponent is there, he starts striking, and the ref is seeing that they are illegal shots. But he thinks like this: ‘How am I going to stop this fight?’

“It’s illegal! It’s in the rules. You’re not going to be wrong if you stop it; it’s in the rules. You stop it. If people ask, ‘Why did you stop it?’, say, ‘Look at the video.’ In that scenario, people would give him credit as a man.

“But now, he is not a man. He shouldn’t have been refereeing that fight, to be honest. A guy like that should be punished. That’s how it is. It’s a very serious job, it’s a very serious event. What happened? The referee should have faced legal consequences for that.”