Alex Pereira Accuses Daniel Cormier and the UFC of Manipulating Gane vs Hokit Narrative
Pereira says Cormier and the UFC pushed the public to accept Gane vs Hokit instead of giving him a rematch.
Alex Pereira is not letting the heavyweight title situation go quietly.
The former light heavyweight champion accused Daniel Cormier and the UFC of manipulating public opinion to build support for the Ciryl Gane vs Josh Hokit title fight at UFC 334, rather than giving Pereira the rematch he wanted, per LowKick MMA.
"It's all kind of manipulated," Pereira said in an interview with Laerte Viana. "I saw before the announcement that Cormier and other guys saying that it will be a good fight."
Pereira lost to Gane by second-round TKO at UFC Freedom 250 in June, a fight in which Pereira believes Gane landed illegal blows to the back of his head. He had vacated his light heavyweight title earlier in 2026 to chase three-division glory. Instead of a rematch, Gane will defend the heavyweight belt against undefeated contender Hokit at UFC 334, while Pereira is booked against Sergei Pavlovich at UFC 335 in December.
The tension between Pereira and Cormier boiled over when Pereira asked DC directly whether beating Gane would make him champion. Cormier replied, "I don't think so."
"So the guy has opinions that don't make sense," Pereira said.
Meanwhile, Jon Jones weighed in from the sidelines. In an interview with The Schmo, Jones said he believes Hokit "very well could win" while noting that Gane's victories reflect well on their shared team, per LowKick MMA.
I'm with Pereira on this one, at least partially. The man lost a fight where he genuinely believes he got hit illegally, and instead of getting the runback, he's watching someone else get the title shot. That would make anyone paranoid about the process.
But here's where I pump the brakes. Hokit is undefeated and earned his shot. The UFC is not obligated to give Pereira a rematch just because he thinks the stoppage was bad. Sometimes you lose and have to earn your way back.
The DC angle is interesting. Cormier telling Pereira that beating Gane wouldn't even make him champion is wild. What does Pereira have to do, then? The heavyweight division is messy right now, and Pereira is right to be frustrated even if the conspiracy talk is a stretch.
