"Whenever he has courage" - Alex Pereira extends interesting challenge to Anthony Smith amid ongoing beef

Alex Pereira has traded words with Anthony Smith over the past week after the latter claimed that Pereira is not the same 'large, scary monster' that he was at middleweight. 'Poatan' continued to troll 'Lionheart' by seemingly extending an offer for a challenge for a submission grappling Brazilian jiu-jitsu match.

The No.3-ranked light heavyweight took to Twitter with himself photoshopped over a promotional image of Smith's recent grappling match against Glover Teixeira, captioning the tweet:

"Date: Whenever he has courage"

Check out Alex Pereira's tweet calling out Anthony Smith below:

Following Smith's initial comments, Pereira fired back via YouTube, claiming:

"He’s just a bitter man. The only ones who speak bad about me are Anthony Smith types. Washed-up vets who never amounted to anything, who are still fighting, they’re in a really tight spot, or the guy who is still a nobody, but those who are already doing well, I don’t see them talking about me. It’s just the ones who are beneath me."

Check out Alex Pereira's response to Anthony Smith below (starting at the 6:20 mark):

Pereira appears to be in line to face Jiri Prochazka for the vacant light heavyweight title, however, it is possible that the two meet at a later point. It is unlikely, however, that they will compete in a submission grappling match.

Anthony Smith welcomes Alex Pereira rivalry amidst back-and-forth

While Alex Pereira did not take kindly to Anthony Smith's comments, 'Lionheart' noted that his comments were misunderstood. He did not, however, shy away from 'Poatan's call-out, as he shared that he is open to a rivalry during a recent appearance on MMA Today, stating:

"I said a bunch of nice s**t about you and you're going to talk s**t? I don't think so. That's not how this works. That's not how this works, and then we're just going to shake hands when we see each other because you're doing this media thing, because you're looking for a rival? If you want a f**king rival, you got one right here. I didn't do s**t to you."

Check out Anthony Smith's comments on Alex Pereira below:

Smith noted that he labeled Pereira as a special talent and praised him. Furthermore, he added that he maintains a strong relationship with Glover Teixeira as well as the rest of 'Poatan's coaches and training partners. Despite this, he is not shying away from a potential rivalry with the former middleweight champion.