'Big' John McCarthy Explains Why Alex Pereira’s ‘Illegal Strike’ Claims Against Ciryl Gane Don’t Hold Up

Ever since Alex Pereira's loss to Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250, the debate has stretched far beyond the result itself. Instead of focusing solely on the heavyweight clash, much of the conversation has centered on the elbows and punches Gane landed during the finishing sequence, with Pereira insisting several of them struck the back of his head illegally. 

The controversy has since snowballed into a wider discussion about Herb Dean's officiating, with Pereira calling for the veteran referee to be removed from the sport. 

While criticism of Dean continues to dominate social media, one of the sport's foremost authorities on MMA rules has offered a very different perspective. Veteran referee and unified rules architect John McCarthy reviewed the disputed sequence in detail and argued that most of Pereira's complaints simply don't align with how the rules are actually interpreted inside the cage.

"Big" John McCarthy Explains why Most Disputed Strikes were Legal

Appearing on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” McCarthy wasted little time dismissing the notion that the sequence was filled with illegal blows. After reviewing still images from the fight, he maintained that the vast majority of the Frenchman’s strikes landed in legal target areas - 

"I'm telling you right now, I've watched that too many times... not one of those was an illegal shot that you're seeing."

The 63-year-old explained that much of the confusion stems from differing interpretations of what constitutes the back of the head. According to him, boxing's traditional "headphones" definition has often been mistakenly applied to MMA despite the sports operating under very different dynamics.

He noted that while boxing is essentially a 180-degree sport, mixed martial arts is fought in every direction, making a much narrower protected area necessary. Under the unified rules, the illegal zone begins at the crown of the head and extends down in roughly a two-inch strip over the occipital junction, where the skull meets the spine.

"The back of the head starts at the crown of the head," McCarthy explained, emphasizing that strikes landing above that line are legal.

John McCarthy Speaks From Experience

Drawing from his experience conducting pre-fight rules meetings, McCarthy revealed that he regularly instructs fighters to target their opponent's ears during ground-and-pound exchanges because doing so virtually guarantees they're striking a legal area. He added that if a defending fighter suddenly moves into an illegal position after a strike has already been thrown, officials generally won't penalize the attacking fighter for something beyond their control.

That said, McCarthy also acknowledged that Pereira may have absorbed "a couple" of blows that strayed into the prohibited area.

However, he stressed that those instances occurred naturally during scrambles as “Poatan” continued moving his head while Gane was already throwing elbows and punches. In his view, that was nowhere near enough to conclude Herb Dean mishandled the fight.

John McCarthy Defends Gane's Intentions During Finishing Sequence

Beyond defending Dean's officiating, McCarthy also pushed back against suggestions that Gane intentionally targeted illegal areas, "Do I think Ciryl Gane is a dirty fighter? No, I don't."

Instead, McCarthy described the 36-year-old as a fighter who occasionally becomes overzealous when sensing a finish.

He added, "I think at times he becomes reckless when he's got the opportunity to end the fight. He starts to just wail, and it happens. It happens with a ton of fights."

To illustrate his point, McCarthy recalled discussing a similar incident with former UFC title challenger Josh Thomson at UFC on FOX, whose finishing sequence against Nate Diaz included an accidental strike to the back of the head. 

McCarthy said Thomson had no intention of fouling his opponent, but Diaz's movement during the exchange altered the point of impact, a situation McCarthy believes closely mirrors what happened between Gane and Pereira.

McCarthy Says Gane Looked to be Targeting Legal Strikes During Bout

Furthermore, he argued that referees cannot reasonably expect fighters to stop a strike halfway through its motion simply because an opponent suddenly turns or changes levels. Instead, officials typically issue a verbal warning if subsequent blows continue landing in the illegal area after the initial contact.

Looking back at the UFC Freedom 250 finish, McCarthy said Gane appeared to be aiming for legal targets throughout the exchange, with Pereira's forward movement constantly changing the striking angles. While he conceded that a handful of shots may have drifted into illegal territory, he maintained that the overwhelming majority were legal under the unified rules.

For McCarthy, however, the controversy seems to be less about poor officiating and more about widespread misunderstanding of one of MMA's most debated rules.