Michel Pereira, one of the most entertaining middleweights the UFC has ever put in an octagon, got cut from the roster on July 14. The fight that ended his UFC run shouldn’t have been a loss. And his teammate Alex Pereira, one of the UFC’s biggest stars, isn’t staying quiet about it.
What Happened to Michel Pereira at UFC Baku?
Three weeks ago at UFC Baku, Michel Pereira lost a unanimous decision to Shara “Bullet” Magomedov in the main event. Magomedov pulled Pereira’s hair twice and poked him in the eye once during the fight. Referee Herb Dean issued warnings. He never deducted a point.
That matters because a single point deduction would have flipped the scorecards. The fight likely ends in a draw if Dean does his job. Instead, Magomedov walked away with a clean decision, and Pereira walked away with a loss that just cost him his job.
The UFC confirmed his release on July 14. Pereira’s contract had expired before the Baku fight, and the organization brought him back on a one-fight deal for the main event slot. After dropping four of his last five at middleweight, they decided that one-fight deal was the last one.
Pereira didn’t hold back on Instagram: “In MMA, there are rules. They must be applied with the same level of rigor to everyone. When a rule is ignored, the result is compromised.”
He’s right. And Herb Dean let it get compromised.
Why Is Alex Pereira Calling Out the UFC Over This?
Alex Pereira has his own history with Herb Dean. The veteran referee worked his interim heavyweight title fight against Ciryl Gane at UFC Freedom 250, where Alex says Dean missed repeated shots to the back of his head that cost him the fight. So when the UFC cut his Brazilian teammate Michel over a result that should have been a draw, Alex had things to say.
He posted on Instagram: “They could have sent this guy earlier, and maybe it would have been acceptable, but paying such a high price because of a refereeing mistake is impossible to accept.”
He went further: “It’s sad that not even the UFC has control over this, and because of that, our sport keeps being tarnished.”
That last part is the one that sticks. When one of the promotion’s biggest active stars says the sport is being tarnished by officiating, it’s not a hot take. It’s a problem that has been building for years, and Herb Dean has been at the center of it more than his defenders can reasonably explain away. The guy has been at the center of multiple high-profile controversies and nothing changes. No accountability. No consequences. The fighter takes the loss and the referee works the next card.
The UFC has no mechanism for retroactively changing a result because a referee failed to deduct points. That’s the trap. The fight is the fight, the record is the record, and the contract is the contract. Michel Pereira lost a fight that should have at minimum ended in a draw, and the UFC cut him for it. That’s how it works.
Who Is Michel Pereira?
Pereira, nicknamed “Demolidor” (The Demolisher), is a 32-year-old Brazilian middleweight who spent seven years in the UFC. He finished his run with a 10-6 record in the promotion, though his overall professional career sits at 32-14-2 across stints at welterweight and middleweight.
He was never a title contender, but calling him anything less than a fan favorite undersells what he brought to every card he was on. Five Performance of the Night bonuses. Two Fight of the Night awards. Backflips mid-fight. Showtime kicks from angles that have no business connecting. The kind of fighter who could be on any prelim and still be the reason people talked about the event on Monday.
His UFC career started in 2019, and at his best he was a nightmare matchup for anyone on the feet. His issue was consistency, not ability. The last stretch at middleweight went sideways, and the UFC apparently decided the foul-marred Baku loss was a reasonable exit point. Seven years and seven bonuses ended with a one-fight deal and a phone call.
He holds black belts in both BJJ and Karate. He’ll fight again, and whoever signs him first wins that move.
What’s Next for Michel Pereira?
He should be a top-five pickup for any promotion with a middleweight division that cares about drawing an audience. PFL has the money. ONE Championship is always looking for fighters who fill seats. Bellator, now folded into the PFL structure, has the infrastructure. Pereira gets signed inside 30 days. Bet on it.
The bigger question is whether Herb Dean faces any real accountability. The answer is almost certainly no. He’s been at the center of multiple high-profile controversies over the past year and the Nevada State Athletic Commission hasn’t blinked. Alex Pereira knows this, which is why his Instagram post sounds less like a complaint and more like someone who stopped expecting justice and has moved on to just saying the quiet part out loud.
Michel Pereira deserved better than a tainted loss on a one-fight deal costing him his roster spot. The UFC had options. They chose the one getting criticized this week.
Check out the highlights from Pereira’s final UFC bout below:
Who do you think picks up Michel Pereira next: PFL, ONE Championship, or does he somehow end up back in the UFC within a year?
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