At UFC Freedom 250, Ciryl Gane proved why he’s one of the best heavyweight MMA fighters in the world. After weeks of anticipation over whether he could handle Alex Pereira’s power, the Frenchman ended up securing the biggest victory of his career, becoming the two-time interim heavyweight champion. Though the win sparked some controversy regarding the referee’s handling of the fight, Gane’s outstanding performance impressed even one of the sport’s greatest legends, Jon Jones. 

After Ciryl Gane defeated Alex Pereira via second-round knockout, former two-division UFC champion Jon Jones took to social media to praise his former opponent.

“Congratulations to the new heavyweight champion Gane, you looked great out there tonight,” Jones posted on X.  

Well, that’s definitely a change in reaction from Jones compared to the last time Ciryl Gane fought. After the now two-time interim heavyweight champion eye-poked Tom Aspinall at UFC 321, ‘Bones’ called out the Frenchman for his dirty tactics, having also suffered a low blow from Gane at UFC 285. But now, after Gane knocked out Pereira, the Rochester native sounded highly impressed, and the 36-year-old certainly put together a praiseworthy game plan against ‘Poatan’.

In the first round, Pereira got off to a strong start with his well-timed head kicks. However, Gane never looked intimidated by those shots. Instead, the Frenchman focused on his jab and straight right hand, using them to counter Pereira whenever the Brazilian tried to close the distance. Gane quickly saw the rewards of investing in the jab as he dropped Pereira with the same punch in the second round.

The former two-division champion tried to recover, but it was too late. Gane marched forward and began landing heavy shots on Pereira, who appeared to be absorbing far too much punishment. Yet referee Herb Dean seemed to take longer than necessary to realize that Gane had effectively finished the fight. After the French heavyweight landed several more unanswered strikes, it finally convinced Herb to step in and wave off the contest.

As a result, fans were far from pleased with how Herb Dean handled the stoppage, and they left no stone unturned in calling out the veteran referee over the controversial ending.

Fans react to the referee’s late stoppage as Ciryl Gane knocks out Alex Pereira at UFC White House  

One fan quickly chimed in and wrote, “That was a clear late stoppage.” After that, another user commented, “It was a late stoppage unfortunately. He gave Pereira more chances than most fighters would get.” Continuing the backlash, a different fan wrote, “Brother, that stoppage was late.”

When it comes to late stoppages, there have been many instances where fans have held Herb Dean accountable. Besides the recent White House stoppage, Dean also received criticism for stopping the Benoit Saint Denis vs. Dan Hooker fight late, which prompted Jorge Masvidal to go on a tirade against the veteran official.

Beyond that, Herb Dean recently came under scrutiny again for his controversial stoppage in the Adriano Moraes vs. Phumi Nkuta fight at MVP 1 event. Dean defended his decision, but Nkuta ended up challenging it by taking the matter to the California State Athletic Commission.

Following this, another fan seemed conflicted about the stoppage, writing, “Oh, so a fighter has to be on the ground and out cold for it to be stopped? You can even say that was a late stoppage. One more punch and Alex was going out.” Meanwhile, another user felt the stoppage was handled correctly, writing, “That was a good stoppage.”

To be fair, Alex Pereira showed signs of recovery when Gane first tagged him with the well-timed jab. Maybe that convinced Herb to give the former champion a little more time in hopes that he could recover. From that perspective, many found the stoppage acceptable. However, the overall consensus appears to be that Herb was late in stepping in.

Amid the growing criticism, another fan pointed out that Gane appeared to land several shots to the back of Pereira’s head, writing, “Which is funny since he missed the ten-plus strikes to the back of the head.” At first glance, some of the Frenchman’s punches did seem to land near the back of ‘Poatan’s head, but the situation remains unclear.

That said, with Ciryl Gane defeating Alex Pereira on the UFC’s biggest stage, he now moves on to a title unification bout against Tom Aspinall. As for the Brazilian, it remains to be seen where he goes from here.