Alex Pereira is not letting it go. After Tom Aspinall vacated the heavyweight title due to his ongoing eye issues, Ciryl Gane — the interim champion who stopped Pereira in the second round at UFC Freedom 250 in June — was elevated to undisputed champion. Pereira answered with a brutal piece of mockery.
“Same circus. Different belt.”
In his first social media post referencing Aspinall's decision, "Poatan" reposted a graphic highlighting Gane's losses to Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones, his controversial decision win over Alexander Volkov, and the back-of-the-head strikes Pereira insists tainted their June interim title fight. Next to a photo of Gane wearing a crown, the caption read: "Same circus. Different belt." Pereira shared it with the single word "Champion" and a string of laughing emojis.
The Brazilian (13-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC, 39) has campaigned relentlessly for a Gane rematch, claiming the stoppage came from illegal strikes to the back of his head and blaming referee Herb Dean for how it unfolded. The UFC has declined to revisit the result — and then made the rematch even less likely by booking Gane to defend the undisputed belt against undefeated Josh Hokit in the UFC 334 main event on November 14 at Madison Square Garden.
That's the part Pereira doesn't seem willing to accept. In another post, he referenced Ngannou, Jones, and Volkov while again casting doubt on the legitimacy of the result against him, and made clear he wants one more fight this year.
The reality is uglier than the graphics. Pereira is winless at heavyweight, and the math no longer points to Gane — the UFC has answered that question with Hokit. Whether the promotion treats Pereira's public challenge as noise or momentum, he has made sure the debate stays loud heading into November.
