Pereira accuses UFC and Cormier of steering opinion towards Gane vs. Hokit
Alex Pereira feels overlooked for the heavyweight title. Public opinion on the Gane vs. Hokit fight was "manipulated", the Brazilian said in an interview.
Archive image · Photo: The White House (Molly Riley) / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
Alex Pereira has levelled accusations at the UFC and commentator Daniel Cormier. In an interview with Brazilian journalist Laerte Viana published on October 12, he said, according to MiddleEasy, that before the title fight between heavyweight champion Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit was announced, Cormier and others publicly portrayed the matchup as a good fight. "I think they did everything to try to make people believe that this was the fight," Pereira was quoted as saying. "But it's all kind of manipulated."
According to Pereira, the UFC had said a poll showed fans wanted Gane vs. Hokit. He said he never saw such a poll on social media; MiddleEasy also found no documented poll. He had expected to stay in the title picture. Cormier told him that beating Gane would still not make him champion.
Pereira offered no evidence of coordination, and there was no response from the UFC or Cormier. Gane and Hokit fight for the title at UFC 334 at Madison Square Garden on November 14. Pereira faces Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 on December 12.