Alex Pereira has hit back at Jamahal Hill after he reacted from cageside to the champion’s win over Khalil Rountree.

Pereira continued his scintillating form as UFC light-heavyweight champion, battering and stopping latest challenger Rountree at the Delta Center.

ESPN MMAHill went viral after ‘yawning’ following the result[/caption]

Poatan’s former KO victim Hill sat cageside to watch the event unfold and he quickly made it clear that he was in the building.

He yawned while visible on camera and on the screens in the venue, a reaction which drew a reaction from the crowd and on social media.

It was hinting that the powerful star was fighting in a boring style, despite ending the contest in the penultimate stanza.

Pereira has since responded after being asked in his post-fight press conference, telling reporters: “Maybe he just woke up from UFC 300.”

The gag drew laughter from the reporters in the room, with Pereira also affording a wry smile.

It was a reference to their octagon meeting, where the Brazilian knocked him out in just the first round of their contest.

He landed a booming left hand which sent his rival crashing to the canvas, and Pereira moved in to ground-and-pound.

Hill had no defence to his relentless shots and the referee stepped in to wave off the contest.

The win was certainly a statement and it makes it a surprise that ‘Sweet Dreams’ was so willing to mock Pereira.

Despite Rountree’s attempts to play down the champion’s latest defence, it was yet another impressive performance.

Pereira got his statement finish in spectacular styleGetty

And Dana White concurred, hailing the powerful star’s latest seismic finish.

“What a hell of a fight, I mean Khalil Rountree is another level of tough,” White said.

“He had no fear from the first round, Khalil Rountree went in there and started going at it from the minute that the bell rang; no fear, no jitters, no nerves – maybe he did, but he didn’t show it.

“He went right in there against one of the baddest dudes of all time and just started mixing it up with him, it was awesome.”

“You have to respect this guy, [but] did this not play out the way everybody thought it would?

“Everybody at first was like ‘Oh he’s ranked number 8 blah blah’ but you knew that it was going to be a bad**s fight, you knew it was going to be bad**s.

It is unclear what his next move will be, but a switch to heavyweight appears to be off the table for now.

Pereira could make history and become a three-weight world champion if he did move, but he’d need to secure a shot against current king Jon Jones.