Alex Pereira's six-word response to Dricus du Plessis' cinematic in-cage challenge sparks heated debate: "Keep that energy when he’s mauling you"

Daniel Cormier recently revealed how Alex Pereira responded to Dricus du Plessis' high-octane fight challenge after his UFC 312 win. It appears that while the Brazilian may be open to facing du Plessis, he's aware that there is a significant size difference between him and the South African fighter.

'Stillknocks' defeated Sean Strickland in their title rematch at UFC 312 last weekend via a dominant unanimous decision and successfully defended the middleweight title. In the immediate aftermath, du Plessis took the mic and dramatically called out Pereira using lines from the legendary Hollywood film, Troy.

Cormier later spoke to Pereira and asked about getting called out by the middleweight king. Revealing Pereira's six-word reaction to the dramatic challenge in a recent YouTube upload, 'DC' quoted the Brazilian as saying:

"This man is just too small."

After @ChampRDS shared an X post quoting Cormier, fans flocked to the comments section to express their thoughts.

One fan wrote:

"Mmhmmm, keep that energy when he’s mauling you on the ground."

Another posted:

"Alex by KO."

Check out some more reactions below:

Screenshots from @ChampRDS on X

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Dricus du Plessis discusses potential Alex Pereira fight and talks facing Khamzat Chimaev next

Dricus du Plessis recently shared his thoughts on potentially facing Alex Pereira in the cage and expressed confidence in his chances against the Brazilian. The South African fighter also commented on facing Khamzat Chimaev next.

At the UFC 312 post-fight presser, du Plessis clarified that he respected Pereira and said:

"I have the most respect for him what he's done in the short period of time in the UFC; to come from another sport [kickboxing], what he's done there. But yes, I want to share the octagon with that man... I know I can beat him [Pereira] and at 205 [pounds], one hundred percent."

Addressing a potential Chimaev fight next, he continued:

"Khamzat's first. Khamzat's first... I just want to beat Alex Pereira... It was just Pereira, he's such a legend in the sport, to me already, that it would be amazing to beat him for my legacy. I want to be the greatest to ever do this. But Khamzat's next. Khamzat is next."

Catch Dricus du Plessis' comments below (3:44):