ALEX PEREIRA CRITICISES UFC OVER MICHEL PEREIRA RELEASE

Alex Pereira has stated that the UFC should not have released middleweight Michel Pereira from its roster, attributing the decision to poor officiating by referee Herb Dean. Pereira made his remarks following Michel Pereira's loss to Shara Magomedov at UFC Baku in late June. Michel Pereira had lost four of his last five fights prior to his release. Pereira wrote on Instagram that whilst the UFC could have terminated Michel Pereira's contract earlier, doing so "because of a refereeing mistake is impossible to accept".

Pereira further argued that state athletic commissions, rather than the UFC itself, control referee assignments for events, meaning the promotion has limited ability to prevent such situations. He acknowledged that the UFC has previously taken action against officials it deemed unsuitable, citing the case of referee Vyacheslav Kiselev, whom the promotion said it would no longer use after his officiating of a UFC 267 bout between Benoît Saint-Denis and Elizeu Zaleski dos Santos in 2021. In that fight, Kiselev did not stop the bout whilst Saint-Denis was being severely beaten, prompting the UFC to remove him from the remainder of the card.

Pereira also expressed concern that other athletes may face similar circumstances without speaking publicly about them. He stated that the situation reflected poorly on professional mixed martial arts as a sport. Pereira listed his record across three disciplines: 33 wins and 7 losses across 40 kickboxing fights, 13 wins and 3 losses across 16 MMA fights, and 1 loss across 1 Vale Tudo fight.