Dana White addresses Alex Pereira calling for Dricus du Plessis clash at 185 pounds after next fight: "He's f**king nasty"
UFC light heavyweight king Alex Pereira has outlined his plans to drop down to middleweight to face divisional champion Dricus du Plessis after his next fight. The Brazilian is scheduled to face Khalil Rountree Jr. on Oct. 5 at UFC 307.
Pereira, who captured the middleweight throne from Israel Adesanya at UFC 281, reacted to his rival's loss against du Plessis at UFC 305 by issuing a challenge to the South African. He doubled down on the challenge recently on Instagram and said:
“I’m focused on my next fight and I’m going prepared but you never know what can happen, so regardless of the result, I want to go down one more time to the middleweight and go for the belt. Hey Dricus, bring your will to fight me so you can prove that you are better than me, with your public statement it is easy to make this happen, Chama!”
Check out the Instagram post below:
The UFC middleweight champion dismissed Pereira's challenge and involved Sean Strickland in the crossfire of his reply. UFC CEO Dana White was asked to weigh in on the exchange at the post-fight press conference of Dana White's Contender Series season 8. He said:
"My take on him [Pereira] is he's f***ing nasty… he wants to move up, he wants to move down. That’s why people love him. Those are the type of fighters people love. Pereira wants to fight anybody."
While he didn't promptly approve the idea of the matchup, he described it as a 'good problem to have,' noting that it provides the matchmakers with a range of options.
Catch White's comments below:
What did Dricus du Plessis say about Alex Pereira's plans to move down to middleweight?
Dricus du Plessis made the first defense of his middleweight throne with an emphatic fourth-round submission win over Israel Adesanya at UFC 305. With that win, 'Stillknocks' extended his undefeated UFC run to 8-0 with six finishes.
Former 185-pound champion Alex Pereira issued a challenge to the South African quickly after his win, claiming that he's " coming down to 185 one more time."
Here's what du Plessis said in response to Pereira:
“I honestly don’t think Alex Pereira should drop down to 185. If he wants to, great, perfect. But then we’re going to hear the excuses. I saw Izzy stiff that man in the first round... If Izzy stiffens you like that, you do not want to be in there with me, especially not when you’ve got to come in there with the excuses, ‘Oh, I cut too much weight.’ That’s going to happen. Everybody’s going to say it.”
Catch du Plessis' comments below (9:00):