Alex Pereira isn’t taking his first UFC loss at heavyweight laying down.

The former middleweight and light heavyweight champion endeavored into his third weight class against one of the heavyweight division’s top fighters, Cyril Gane, and he suffered a second-round TKO defeat.

But it wasn’t without controversy.

Gane landed multiple elbows to the side and back of Pereira’s head that rocked him, making it easier for Gane to land the fight-ending shots that put Pereira away moments later.

Pereira and several others pointed out Gane’s illegal elbows, protesting that the fight should’ve ended in a disqualification — or a no contest, at the very least. Pereira agrees, which is why he’s exploring options to appeal the decision, according to MMA Junkie’s Nolan King.

“Alex Pereira is confident things weren't properly handled in his fight at UFC Freedom 250, and now he's considering his options to rectify them,” King wrote.

“I had a long conversation with my manager last night,” Pereira told MMA Junkie. “We are going to pursue this legally. We're going to talk to our lawyers. The bill is going to come from some people.”

Appealing the decision isn’t the only action Pereira is taking either.

The Brazilian striker is calling for referee Herb Dean, who made a video on Tuesday explaining why Gane’s elbows weren’t illegal in his opinion, to be punished for his actions during his fight.

Pereira watched the video, but he doesn’t think Dean did himself any favors in trying to explain the situation. In fact, he thinks Dean should do himself a favor and retire from refereeing.

“First of all, he does the complete opposite of what he posted on that video,” Pereira said. “He posted on that video explaining the rules, but he did not follow his own rules that he followed in that video. Herb had a record of making mistakes like that. … Maybe his time is up. Because when you deal with things like this, (I am) not only talking about fighting. It's starting to become a life-threatening situation. Somebody can risk their lives with shots like that.

“I might fight for some time. We don't know how long. Eventually I'm going to retire. I am speaking for the new generation, for the people who are coming there in the future – these kids, the other fighters. This can end up really bad. I think everybody already had enough of Herb Dean. We don't know if he should even continue on the job at this point.”