Dricus Du Plessis has responded to Belal Muhammad’s recent criticism of the middleweight division, dismissing the comments and taking jabs at the UFC welterweight champion.
Muhammad recently downplayed the strength of the 185-pound weight class, calling it the easiest (aside from Khamzat Chimaev) and citing the UFC 312 main event as evidence.
In an interview with The Ariel Helwani Show, Du Plessis didn’t hold back in his response.
Belal Muhammad, I can’t even remember the way he fights, I don’t know,” Du Plessis said. “Has he ever finished anyone? … I mean, I like how he acts as if he has a choice to ever go up to 185. The UFC will never let him. If he wanted to, he’d have to abandon his belt, give up his belt, vacate, and go up to 185, and there’s no way they give him a direct title shot. There’s no way. The UFC doesn’t even like Belal Muhammad. He hasn’t even defended his belt once. He’s definitely better on Twitter than he is when he fights; let’s just say that.
While Du Plessis and Muhammad have dismissed the idea of fighting each other, both are on impressive career runs. Du Plessis defended his middleweight title for the second time, defeating Sean Strickland in a rematch at UFC 312, extending his UFC record to 9-0. Meanwhile, Muhammad boasts an 11-fight unbeaten streak since 2019, culminating in a dominant title-winning performance against Leon Edwards at UFC 304 this past July.
While a champion-vs-champion bout would undoubtedly be a significant draw, Du Plessis believes such a matchup would be one-sided.
No, that would be unfair,” Du Plessis said. “If I fight Belal Muhammad, it would be unfair. One hundred percent. Have you seen the size of the man? What is he going to do? Is he going to get somebody to help him? Is he going to sit on somebody’s neck? How is it going to work? I couldn’t believe that he fights at 170 when I saw him.
When asked how the fight would go, Du Plessis didn’t mince words.
I step on his head, and it’s over,” he said.
Belal Muhammad Responds to Dricus Du Plessis
Du Plessis’ comments quickly spread across social media, prompting a response from Muhammad.
He can barely walk without tripping over his own feet,” Muhammad said. “He ain’t touching me.
While there’s no real movement toward a potential fight between the two champions, their back and forth has added an extra layer of intrigue to their respective title reigns.