Alex Pereira will not return to light heavyweight after coming up short in his attempt to win the interim heavyweight title at the UFC White House card on June 14, and he is angling for a rematch with Ciryl Gane.

"100 percent [staying at] heavyweight," Pereira told fellow UFC fighter Renato Moicano. "Honestly, training went really well. A lot of people talk about the weight, but I've always been a heavy guy."

Defending His Performance

Pereira weighed in at 251 pounds the morning before the White House bout, a whopping 46.5-pound gain compared to eight months prior. He was three pounds heavier than Gane on Saturday but said he did not feel tired after the opening round.

"I wasn't tired," Pereira said. "I got back to the corner and listened clearly to Glover and Plinio. I didn't even sit on the stool. I was relaxed. I was feeling good."

Blaming the Referee

Pereira blasted referee Herb Dean for allowing illegal strikes to the back of his head and told Moicano the veteran referee should be fired by the athletic commission. "Poatan" said he will refuse to fight if Dean is selected as the referee for a future bout.

"People say I wasn't prepared, I can't take a punch, I got dropped by a jab," Pereira said. "How can people be so stupid and only see the jab? Nobody says, 'Damn, he took a beating and stayed in the fight.' They only talk about the jab. But what about all the punches I took?"

The Rematch

Pereira said he suffered no concussion and is injury-free, hoping to get back in action as soon as medically cleared. He asked the UFC for an immediate rematch backstage at the White House, but the promotion did not give him a clear answer.

Gane currently holds the interim belt and has asked to face Tom Aspinall in a title unification bout on the Paris card in September, which was agreed to by the Englishman.

"[I'll stay at] heavyweight, and I'm definitely focused on the title," Pereira said. "In that fight, that lucky punch — I'd call it a lucky punch, Gane closed his eyes when he threw the jab. But I'm definitely going after the belt. He has the belt now."