UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has had Dricus du Plessis on his mind recently amidst hints of a potential ‘champ-champ’ pursuit.
Dricus du Plessis successfully defended his UFC middleweight champion for the second time at UFC 312 in his rematch with Sean Strickland. While many were hoping for an entertaining affair, du Plessis made it a dominant performance, stifling Strickland and winning by unanimous decision.
After moving to 2-0 against Strickland, du Plessis has his eyes set on a likely showdown with the undefeated Khamzat Chimaev for his next middleweight title defense. Chimaev defeated former titleholder Robert Whittaker at UFC 308, all but guaranteeing a title shot for his next fight.
But if du Plessis gets past Chimaev, there aren’t a lot of high-profile options in the middleweight title picture. One of which is Nassourdine Imavov, who defeated du Plessis’ former rival Israel Adesanya at UFC Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
A big fight might surface in UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, who is already talking about a 185lb move before making his first welterweight title defense.
Belal Muhammad dissects how he’d beat Dricus du Plessis
In a recent post to X, Muhammad explained his gameplan for a possible super fight with du Plessis.
“I’d come out him with a 1-2 then he’d wing an overhand I’ll duck it change levels and take him down then he’d shrimp and get the underhook to get out but he’ll be to weak to get up so then I’ll hit him with ground and pound for the rest of round 1,” Muhammad began.
“Round 2 starts and I come out with a flying knee he shells up then I hit him with the zabit back trip then point and laugh at him (this makes him mad) he gets up and charges forward winging punches at me I slide out of the way with ease then hit him with a 1-2 then he gets frustrated shoots for a takedown I defend with ease but now he’s tired and stays on his knees I kick him to the body while he’s on the ground. End of round 2.
“Round 3 starts and he’s distraught he can’t hit me he can’t take me down so then he tries spinning stuff I back up at the right time and end up taking his back he lets me under chin out of frustration then I put him to sleep … and new double champ.”
Muhammad’s move could correlate that of his teammate, Islam Makhachev, who has long teased an eventual move to welterweight. But Muhammad and Makhachev have steered away from a potential super fight, and Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t approve of the potential matchup.
Belal Muhammad vs. Dricus du Plessis adds to intriguing potential super fights
Muhammad won the UFC welterweight title by defeating Leon Edwards at UFC 304 last July. He was supposed to make his first title defense against Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 before withdrawing from the bout due to a health issue.
Before defeating Strickland at UFC 312, du Plessis successfully defended the belt by finishing Adesanya at UFC 305 in August. He remains unbeaten in his UFC tenure.
If Muhammad is serious about a move to middleweight, it appears he has a gameplan in mind for how to attack du Plessis. Depending on how things play out in their respective divisions, Muhammad and du Plessis could be on a collision course.