Alex Pereira wants to run it back with Ciryl Gane, but Josh Hokit has absolutely no interest in seeing it happen. After getting stopped in his heavyweight debut at UFC Freedom 250 in June, ‘Poatan’ wants another shot at Gane and thinks the rematch is the obvious next move.

“What’s up, everyone? After much time after resting what I needed to, after much work, after my last fight, many people are talking with who will Alex fight?” Pereira said in his native Portuguese on Instagram. “And I’m seeing many opinions, but I think the fight that makes sense is Ciryl Gane. That’s the fight.

“I’m going to work on that, and from what I’m seeing, it’s something that’s going to happen. How the last fight, there were illegal shots. I think now with another opportunity I can come back and show what I can do, what I can achieve, which is the third belt.”

Alex Pereira’s got his reasons for wanting the rematch, though. Like he said, ‘Poatan’ believes the first fight went sideways because he was caught by what he claims were illegal shots by Ciryl Gane to the back of his head during their interim heavyweight title clash.

In his mind, another crack at the Frenchman is the perfect chance to prove that his heavyweight run isn’t defined by that one loss and to show everyone what he can really do at 265 pounds.

Josh Hokit, though, isn’t buying it.

In his eyes, the Brazilian can’t just stroll straight back into the title picture after suffering such a humiliating defeat; he needs to put in the work and earn his way back.

“As a fan, that fight makes no f—— sense. I watched you get demolished,” he wrote on X. “How about a more favorable matchup like Sergei [Pavlovich] who is basically a striker & way less athletic than Ciryl.

“How about you get one f—— win in this weight class before you are gifted another title shot?”

Josh Hokit’s take is pretty straightforward: Alex Pereira has exactly one heavyweight fight under his belt, and ‘Bon Gamin’ stopped him in the second round. So, in the former college football star’s eyes, ‘Poatan’ needs to put in some work at 265 lbs before anyone starts talking about another shot at championship gold.

The problem? The heavyweight division is already a bit of a mess.

Ciryl Gane is sitting on the interim belt after beating Alex Pereira, while undisputed champ Tom Aspinall is still on the sidelines after suffering an eye injury against the Frenchman at UFC 321 in October 2025.

The Briton still hasn’t been cleared to return, leaving the UFC in a pretty awkward spot. You’ve got an interim champ waiting for his shot, while ‘Poatan,’ a former two-division champion, is already pushing for another crack at heavyweight after losing his debut.

And honestly, that could make Alex Pereira’s request a lot more realistic than ‘The Incredible Hok’ would like. If the UFC decides it can’t leave the heavyweight division in limbo forever, Ciryl Gane vs. Alex Pereira 2 could suddenly become a title fight.

That could mean a shot at the undisputed belt or even another interim title if the promotion decides to go that route. Josh Hokit, meanwhile, sees a much easier solution. ‘Poatan’ should just fight another heavyweight first, with Sergei Pavlovich having been floated as a potential option. So, win that fight and then start calling for championship gold.

And to be fair, it seems like even the MMA community is siding with the undefeated heavyweight on this one.

Fans rally behind Josh Hokit’s take on Alex Pereira’s rematch plea

Alex Pereira’s rematch plea did not exactly receive a warm welcome from many fans, with a large portion of the MMA community echoing Josh Hokit’s argument that ‘Poatan’ should have to earn his next opportunity.

“He was a stoic warrior, a true MAN in every sense of the word. But in reality, he’s a crybaby, a spoiled brat who thinks he’s some kind of god,” one fan wrote.

Others focused on just how decisively Gane won their first meeting, arguing that the result made Pereira’s immediate rematch request difficult to justify. “The supposed ‘most exciting striker the sport has ever seen’ got absolutely run through in 3 minutes,” another fan posted.

“Is this man serious? He’s gonna lose all respect and credibility!” a fan wrote. Another was even more blunt: “He got his a– absolutely SMOKED!!! He either hasn’t watched the fight back or he’s just living in a lie!”

The criticism only continued from there, with one fan questioning the very idea of a rematch after such a one-sided finish: “How can you ask for a rematch after getting FINISHED in the 2nd round and being given a masterclass in MMA? What rematch are you asking!”

Some fans also took issue with what they viewed as Alex Pereira’s sense of entitlement following the defeat. “Yeah, the entitlement he’s showing after a loss like that is disgusting,” one user wrote.

“The fight was trash anyway. Pereira not even half as good as people made him out to be,” another claimed.

Interestingly, Josh Hokit also earned plenty of support, even from fans who admitted they don’t usually agree with the heavyweight contender. “Can’t believe I’m siding with ‘jhash howkeyt’ on an argument,” a fan joked.

One more fan highlighted how unusual the moment was: “The HOK 180! Josh went from saying more things that didn’t make sense 6 months ago to now being the voice of reason for MMA! LOL, this sport is hilarious.”

“Incredible Hok woke up and chose language of facts,” another supporter wrote.

One Pereira fan even conceded the point: “I’m a huge Poatan fan, but Hokit is right. Alex needs a win at HW to prove he belongs.”

Whether the UFC sees it Josh Hokit’s way is a whole different story. After all, Alex Pereira has the kind of star power that can turn pretty much any heavyweight fight into a big deal, while Ciryl Gane needs an opponent with Tom Aspinall’s return still up in the air.

However, it is also worth noting that while ‘Poatan’ can keep calling for the rematch, he’s got plenty of people pushing back. The message from ‘The Incredible Hok’ and others is pretty simple: before Alex Pereira gets another shot at the top, he needs to prove he actually belongs at heavyweight.