Ciryl Gane scored a stunning TKO finish of Alex Pereira to capture the interim heavyweight championship in the UFC Freedom 250 co-main event Sunday night at the White House in Washington.
The stoppage came at the 1:27 mark of the second round.
Gane dropped Pereira with a right hand and continued to hammer him with heavy shots on the feet to force referee Herb Dean to intervene. He is now a two-time interim heavyweight champ.
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Gane's win sets up a title-unification rematch against Tom Aspinall, hopefully later in 2026. The Frenchman challenged Aspinall for the undisputed belt at UFC 321 last October, but the bout was ruled a no-contest after Aspinall couldn't continue due to an eye poke. Aspinall remains sidelined with an eye injury, which led the promotion to book Gane-Pereira for the interim title.
Gane, 36, is now riding a four-fight unbeaten streak and hasn't lost since March 2023.
Pereira, a former middleweight and light heavyweight champion, moved up to heavyweight for the first time in his career Sunday in a bid to become the first three-division champion in UFC history.
The 38-year-old Brazilian suffered his first stoppage loss since his rematch with Israel Adesanya in April 2023. "Poatan" is now 1-2 in his past three Octagon appearances.
When asked if he plans to stay at heavyweight or return to light heavyweight, Pereira said he wasn't sure.
"We're gonna sit down and look at it," Pereira said through an interpreter in his postfight interview. "The same way as when I lost at middleweight, I sat down with my team and looked at what we were gonna do."
