Alex Pereira called UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya a "child" for mocking his 12-year-old son after winning the title belt last Saturday.

"Honestly, I wouldn't do the same," Pereira said in part (h/t Guilherme Cruz of MMA Fighting).

"I can play with him like I've always played. I've teased him, but I don't know, he's another child. I don't know what his feelings were. He was enduring this for seven years and I saw his joy after the knockout. That was his dream. That was his dream and he made it, but we're comparing him with a child who was 5 years old at the time, right?"

Pereira was referring to his knockout win over Adesanya in professional kickboxing in 2017 in Brazil. After that match, Pereira's son mocked a knockout in the ring.

Six years later, Adesanya defeated Pereira by second-round knockout at UFC 287 in Miami to win back the belt he lost against him via fifth-round TKO last November.

He then pointed at Pereira's son and fell to the mat, harkening back to that moment.

Adesanya explained his actions in the post-fight presser.

"I'm petty, bro," Adesanya told reporters (h/t Alex Behunin of MMA Mania).

"I remember the first time [Pereira] knocked me out in Brazil, and his son came into the ring and then started to lie dead next to me, and I'm like, 'you f--king little asshole. I'll whoop your ass if your dad don't do it for you.'

"But then, yeah, I looked for his kid, and I pointed at him, and I saw him, and I was like, 'hey, hey, hey' [motions like he fell] just to remind him."

Adesanya doubled down on his remarks on Twitter, when he responded to a video of Pereira showing his son falling down in the ring after his father's kickboxing knockout.

There's a long fighting history between Adesanya and Pereira, who defeated The Last Stylebender in 2016 (unanimous decision) and 2017 (knockout) in kickboxing.

Pereira then took Adesanya's middleweight belt in Nov. 2022 via fifth-round TKO, marking his first-ever defeat in that weight class.

Adesanya got his revenge Saturday, however, as he moved to 24-2 for his career.