Alex Pereira claims Ciryl Gane rematch ‘going to happen' after ‘illegal' finish at UFC White House

Alex Pereira is ready to try again. "Poatan" was unsuccessful in his bid to capture a third title in as many weight classes after getting smoked by Ciryl Gane at UFC White House last June. The fight-ending sequence was marred by several illegal blows that may (or may not) have contributed to "Bon Gamin's" finish. Either way, it put referee Herb Dean back under the microscope. "After much time after resting what I needed to do, after much work, after my last fight, many people are talking with who will Alex fight?" Pereira said on Instagram. "I'm seeing many opinions but I think the fight that makes sense is Ciryl Gane. That's the fight. I'm going to work on that and from what I'm seeing, it's something that's going to happen. How the last fight [ended], there were illegal shots. I think now with another opportunity I can come back and show what I can do, what I can achieve, which is the third belt. I'm very excited for that and I'll work for that. Chama!" This is not the first "illegal" controversy surrounding Gane. Whether or not Pereira is able to secure a Gane rematch could depend on when Tom Aspinall plans to make his Octagon return to defend his 265-pound title. Aspinall has been sidelined with major eye damage following the UFC 321 fight card late last year, where Gane landed an eye poke severe enough to end the fight. We won't know that until Aspinall completes his "additional testing."