UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis went scorched earth on Belal Muhammad after the welterweight champ’s recent comments about his division.
Dricus du Plessis is fresh off his dominant UFC 312 rematch win over Sean Strickland in his latest middleweight title defense. But just weeks removed from the event, du Plessis is in an emerging feud with an unexpected name; UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad.
Du Plessis outpointed Strickland by unanimous decision to retain his middleweight belt at UFC 312 earlier this month. After their first fight was regarded as a ‘Fight of the Year’ candidate in 2024, their rematch was anything but, as du Plessis overwhelmed and frustrated Strickland from start to finish.
Muhammad wasn’t impressed by Strickland’s performance as he blasted the UFC middleweight division in a recent podcast appearance with Barstool Sports. Muhammad claimed du Plessis and the rest of the middleweights make it the ‘easiest weight class’ in the UFC and claimed the middleweight titleholder ‘sucks’.
Du Plessis, who is no stranger to fellow fighters, fans, and pundits underestimating him, sent a strong message to the fellow titleholder Muhammad.
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Dricus du Plessis would ‘step on Belal’s head’ in potential fight
During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, du Plessis didn’t take kindly to Muhammad’s remarks.
“Belal Muhammad, I can’t even remember the way he fights. Has he ever finished anyone?” du Plessis asked. “I like how he acts like he has a chance to 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 then go up to 185 and there’s no way they give him an immediate title shot. There’s no way! The UFC doesn’t even like Belal Muhammad…
“So what makes him think…he hasn’t even defended his belt once! He’s definitely better on Twitter than he is in fights, that’s for sure…that would be unfair…have you seen the size of him? What is he going to do? I couldn’t believe that he’s 170 when I saw him…I step on his head and it’s over.”
It didn’t take long for Muhammad to get the last word in recent posts to X.
“He can barely walk without tripping over his own feet he ain’t touching me,” Muhammad posted. “I don’t gotta pick him up I’ll just push him and he’ll fall over he got 2 left feet.”
Muhammad has teased a move to 185lbs if his teammate, Islam Makhachev, opts to make the climb up to the welterweight division. Muhammad and Makhachev have both steered away from a potential showdown in various media appearances.
Dricus du Plessis has another ‘champ vs. champ’ fight on his radar
Despite Muhammad’s fiery rhetoric, du Plessis has hinted at a separate super fight between himself and UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. After defeating Strickland, du Plessis called out Pereira in a veiled post-fight message, and the two sides later verbally agreed to make a fight happen in a backstage interaction.
But in the meantime, du Plessis will likely face undefeated contender Khamzat Chimaev for his next middleweight title defense. Chimaev most recently defeated du Plessis’ former rival, Robert Whittaker, at UFC 308.
Muhammad hasn’t defended the welterweight title, as of this writing, since dethroning Leon Edwards at UFC 304 last July. Muhammad was supposed to return at UFC 310 against Shavkat Rakhmonov before withdrawing due to a health issue.
While Muhammad’s proposed 15-pound jump to face du Plessis isn’t off the table, it’s highly unlikely to take place for their next fights. In the meantime, their beef is still in its infancy, and things could escalate in a hurry.
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