Alex Pereira claims Dricus du Plessis urging him to stay at 205-pounds exposes hidden fear: “He’s a bit scared"

Dricus du Plessis defended his middleweight title against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305, after which he was asked about potentially facing Alex Pereira. 'Stillknocks' was open to fighting him, but urged the Brazilian to remain at 205 pounds.

'Poatan' debuted as a 185-pound fighter, and secured a title fight against Adesanya in his fourth UFC fight. After defeating 'The Last Stylebender' at UFC 281, the pair fought once more, this time at UFC 287, where Pereira suffered a brutal KO loss.

But the large amount of weight the Brazilian was known to cut to make the 185-pound limit was labeled as a major reason for the knockout defeat.

Du Plessis stated that he did not want to fight 'Poatan' at middleweight due to him being a diminished version of himself. But the 37-year-old has an alternative theory, and said this in a recent YouTube video:

"Dricus talked about my weight... After I talked about going down one more time, the first thing Dricus said was that it was a problem... The last one [against Adesanya] was a warning for me, that I had to go up in weight... But if you guys remember, when I went up in weight, I said I could do this again... But I need some time to recover... I think if I go down one more time I'll do well... Explaining what Du Plessis said, it seems like he's a bit scared."

Watch Alex Pereira discuss Dricus du Plessis below (2:55):

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Dricus du Plessis' coach wants Alex Pereira fight in December

Dricus du Plessis continues to amaze MMA fans with his unorthodox style as he has now defeated the third former UFC champion in a row after submitting Israel Adesanya at UFC 305.

His longtime coach Morne Visser has now expressed interest in facing Alex Pereira in December.

'Poatan' is scheduled to fight Khalil Rountree on Oct. 5 in the main event of UFC 307. Should the Brazilian win the bout without accruing any injuries, Visser has called for a swift turnaround for a 205-pound clash with 'Stillknocks'.

Following Du Plessis' win over Adesanya, Visser was interviewed by Submission Radio, and said this:

"I won't give [Pereira] the joy to come down to 185 [pounds], we'll just go up. We don't want to beat him and then he says that he had to go down and he was fatigued. We'll go up, I'm sure the UFC will be okay with that... He's fighting in October, so I really hope the UFC gives us this blessing for December. As soon as that."

Watch Dricus du Plessis' coach discuss fighting Pereira below (6:50):