Dricus Du Plessis doesn’t see a fight with fellow UFC champion Belal Muhammad being competitive.
Welterweight champ Muhammad discussed the possibility of moving up to 185 pounds, dubbing champ Du Plessis and former champ Sean Strickland easy matchups. Du Plessis notched his second title defense when he defeated Strickland in their rematch at UFC 312 earlier this month.
Du Plessis 23-2 MMA, 9-0 UFC) heavily dismissed Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) as a threat because he thinks he’s too small.
“Belal Muhammad, I can’t even remember the way he fights,” Du Plessis said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “Has he ever finished anyone? 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 wants to do that, he would 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.
“So what makes him think that? He hasn’t even defended his belt once. He’s definitely better on Twitter than he is in fights. I have to say that. If I fought Belal, that would be unfair. Have you seen the size of the man? What is he going to do? He’s going to get someone to help him? He’s going to sit on somebody’s neck? How’s it going to work? I couldn’t believe that he’s 170 when I saw him. I couldn’t believe he fights at 170. I step on his head, and it’s over.”
Muhammad, who’s expected to make his first title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov this year, fired back at Du Plessis.
“
He can barely walk without tripping over his own feet he ain’t touching me.”
he can barely walk wirhout tripping over his own feet he ain’t touching me https://t.co/yw9rY8O06a
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) February 18, 2025
