Alex Pereira says Josh Hokit crossed a line at UFC White House presser: 'Easy to say when there's a lot of security around'

Alex Pereira found himself in the middle of unexpected heavyweight shenanigans at the UFC's first White House event pre-fight press conference in May. With rising contender Josh Hokit nearly coming to blows with UFC lightweight champion Ilia Topuria — and Pereira caught in between — UFC security was forced to work extra hard that day.

A loud, polarizing contender who often plays a character, Hokit was ultimately removed from the stage after he hurled verbal jabs at Pereira, prompting Topuria to defend his fellow championship peer. Hokit, of course, has to worry about veteran knockout artist Derrick Lewis this Sunday on the UFC Freedom card , while Pereira is matched against Ciryl Gane for the interim heavyweight title in the event's co-main headliner.

Speaking Tuesday on "The Ariel Helwani Show," Pereira explained that he felt Hokit's antics crossed a line in their brief interactions.

"I just got up and prepared to stay ready. Everybody knows that I'm not going to try to fight [outside of the Octagon], I'm not going to try to do anything. But I will try to defend myself, for sure," Pereira told Uncrowned through an interpreter.

"He did cross the line. I already saw guys trash talk [other] fighters, trash talk the father of the fighter, trash talk whatever, but never trash talk the mother. I don't know how it is in America, but in Brazil, on the street code, you never talk about the mother. When we're kids growing up, kids are talking to each other, like fighting this and that, until we talk about the mother — and then even their friends go, 'Yo, yo, yo, he just talk about your mom.' And then that's like the last thing to happen to start a fight. But I think he did cross the line."

Pereira's run-in with Hokit wasn't the first time the two interacted that day. According to "Poatan," a backstage exchange before the press conference showcased the difference between reality and show when it comes to the brash American heavyweight.

"It's easy to say when there's a lot of security around, and anything can happen," Pereira said. "Earlier that same day, he bumped into me, and he was about three or four feet away from me. He looked at me and said, 'Chama.' Turned around and kept going. There was no security to stop him, right? So it's easy to [talk trash] when there's not a lot of people. When it's just you and me, he won't."

Should both men win this weekend, a potential matchup becomes more realistic, depending on what happens next in the perpetually bizarre UFC heavyweight landscape.