Pereira Mocks Gane's Promotion To Heavyweight Champ

Alex Pereira laughed off Ciryl Gane's promotion to undisputed UFC heavyweight champion following Tom Aspinall's decision to vacate the belt.

Aspinall relinquished the title Monday after suffering eye injuries in both eyes during his no-contest bout with Gane at UFC 321 last October. An accidental eye poke forced the stoppage, and Aspinall has not fought since. Gane won the interim strap with a knockout of Pereira at UFC Freedom 250 earlier this year, and now moves up to undisputed status with Aspinall sidelined indefinitely.

Pereira took to Instagram on Wednesday to dismiss Gane's new standing, per MMA Fighting. The former two-division champion shared a graphic from MMA News HQ highlighting Gane's title fight losses to Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones, plus a disputed win over Alexander Volkov. The post also referenced the illegal shots Pereira claims Gane landed to the back of his head during their clash. Pereira captioned the image "Champion" followed by three laughing emojis, according to BJPenn.com.

Pereira has repeatedly accused Gane and referee Herb Dean of allowing fouls during their bout at UFC Freedom 250. He posted that Gane landed "10 illegal head shots to Poatan" in his latest social media jab. Gane has not responded.

The UFC has not announced whether Gane will be formally elevated to undisputed champion or if the promotion will strip the interim belt and book a new title fight. Josh Hokit and Volkov remain potential challengers, though Pereira could also factor into plans despite the decisive loss. Pereira recently met with UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell about his next fight and appeared optimistic about the discussions.