The first of two title fights on the UFC White House card saw former two-division titleholder Alex Pereira square off with Ciryl Gane for interim gold.
The first of two title fights on the UFC White House card saw former two-division titleholder Alex Pereira square off with Ciryl Gane for the promotion's interim heavyweight belt.
Following the retirement of future UFC Hall of Famer Jon Jones last summer, Tom Aspinall was promoted from interim to undisputed heavyweight champion. Aspinall was booked to meet Gane for his first title defense in the main event of UFC 321, but that bout ended in disappointment, the UFC offered Pereira the opportunity to move up from light heavyweight to meet Gane at The White House and try to becomethe previous five fights during "UFC Freedom 250" all ended via knockout.
All five of those bouts also saw the pre-fight favorites get their hands raised, although Diego Lopes was only a small favorite to defeat Steve Garcia in the night's opening bout. The interim heavyweight title bout actually featured the closest odds on the entire card, as things were lined right around a pick 'em for the majority of fight week. Pereira wasted little time before throwing up a high kick attempt during the opening seconds.
Gane began to establish his jab and chip away with low kicks as the two men settled into the fight, and during the latter part of the round the Frenchman started opening up with his strikes more as he appeared to grow in confidence. A more aggressive Pereira started to find success during the early part of the second round before getting dropped by Gane, although the Brazilian rallied well to return to his feet after absorbing some massive shots.
Unfortunately for Pereira, Gane gave him absolutely no space to recover, and "Bon Gamin" continued battering him on the feet until referee Herb Dean jumped in to stop the fight. The impressive win marked Gane's first finish since he also stopped Serghei Spivac in the second round at UFC Paris in 2023.
Speaking with Joe Rogan after getting his hand raised, the newly-crowned interim heavyweight champion made it clear that he's ready for the UFC to rebook the fight with Aspinall and give him an opportunity to unify the heavyweight belts. Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.
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