It didn’t take long for Alex Pereira to insert himself into the collective conversation following Dricus Du Plessis’ fourth-round submission victory over Israel Adesanya in the main event of UFC 305. The 205-pound champion and former 185-pound champion took to social media minutes after Du Plessis successfully defended his title for the first time with a photo showing him watching Du Plessis raise his hand, accompanied by a caption that read, “Going back to 185 once again.”

He took things even further recently by calling DDP a clown in an interview. Poatan remarked that facing him would be much easier than facing Jon Jones. Pereira alleged that he displayed an interest in facing Du Plessis several times. However, the middleweight champion never replied since he was a scared clown. Nevertheless, the Brazilian appears to have crossed a line as DDP replied to his statement by issuing a simple fact check.

Stillknocks took to the comment section of the interview video and proclaimed that the Brazilian was wrong. The first South African to ever win a UFC title declared that he was fine with facing Poatan or Sean Strickland. So calling him a clown is nothing but a mistake on Pereira’s part.

DDP also warned the Brazilian that he was taking things too far. He wrote, “a scared clown how dare you! Now that’s taking it to far. I’ve already said I’m in to fight either you or @SStricklandMMA what more do you want or should I tag your translator?” 

Well, the prospect of DDP facing the light heavyweight king has come up in a conversation according to his team. When Dricus Du Plessis’ trainer Morne Visser was asked about Pereira’s comment, he proposed that instead of Alex Pereira moving back to the middleweight division, the organization could have Du Plessis move up a weight class for a potential champion-versus-champion matchup.

But it seems like Pereira would prefer to cut down his weight instead. That didn’t favor him in his last bout in the middleweight division as Israel Adesanya got his vengeance after facing three defeats to the Brazilian across various martial arts disciplines. The South African also pointed to a pertinent issue in the same vein. He suggested that his potential victory over Pereira would be tainted.

Dricus Du Plessis reveals that a win over Alex Pereira would pave the way for “excuses”

Dricus Du Plessis made sure to reiterate that he harbors a desire to face the Brazilian in a marquee matchup. The South African fighter is not afraid to face the hurdle of Pereira who has displayed a penchant for violence and glory on his blistering UFC run so far. Du Plessis after his win over Adesanya in the post-fight press conference indicated his willingness to take on the challenge posed by the Brazilian.

However, he admitted that any potential victory over the Brazilian would come at a great personal cost. “If he wants to, great, perfect, but then we’re going to get the excuses. We saw Izzy stiff that man in the first [second] round. I felt Izzy’s punching power tonight. You know, Izzy has great timing. He’s fast, he’s long, and he has great combinations, but I felt the power. If Izzy stiffens you like that, you do not want to be in there with me. Especially when you’re going to come in there with excuses like I cut too much weight, everyone is going to say that.”

The middleweight champion has brought up a relevant issue as we build up to this marquee fight. Nonetheless, Alex Pereira has to turn his focus on the immediate task at hand. He aims to accomplish a third title defense by overcoming Khalil Rountree at UFC 307 in October. Any discussions over a matchup between Du Plessis and Pereira will have to wait until then. Nevertheless, what do you think of Du Plessis’s retort and his concern about the fight with the Brazilian?