Belal Muhammad issues fiery response to Dricus du Plessis' dismissal about middleweight move, says 'Stillknocks' won't beat Khamzat Chimaev

Belal Muhammad has taken exception to Dricus du Plessis scoffing at his chances of beating him at middleweight. In a recent interview with the MMA Junkie, Muhammad, the UFC welterweight champion, expressed his indignation over du Plessis' statements.

He said:

"Bro, I would literally take his shots, eat them and then walk through them. Just cause I know what I gotta do first, right? I gotta win a couple more fights and then I can start talking about going up. We'll see if he still has the belt by that time. He's got a tough test in front of him with Khamzat. I don't think he's gonna get past Khamzat, but maybe. I'll still go up there anyway to smack him around."

The enmity between the pair has been brewing for some time now and was initially sparked by Muhammad's denigration of du Plessis as the UFC middleweight champion. In response, the South African launched his trash talk, and the two have been locked in back-and-forths ever since.

Check out Belal Muhammad's retort to Dricus du Plessis' trash talk (7:26):

For now, both Muhammad and du Plessis have other matchups that demand their attention. 'Remember the Name' is scheduled to defend his welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315.

Meanwhile, the South African star is expected to defend his middleweight belt against the unbeaten Khamzat Chimaev at an unannounced date. However, a move to middleweight has been on Muhammad's mind ever since his friend and training partner Islam Makhachev expressed an interest in the welterweight belt.

To avoid fighting each other, Muhammad may have to commit to a middleweight move.

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Belal Muhammad has been mocking Dricus du Plessis on X

Belal Muhammad does not believe that Dricus du Plessis' size and physicality are such threats that his skill won't be able to overcome them. The two men have been at each other's throats on X/Twitter, and Muhammad recently poked fun at du Plessis' unorthodox fighting style.

"He can barely walk without tripping over his own feet he ain't touching me"

Unfortunately, the matchup is unlikely to come to fruition. Muhammad has had to work tremendously hard to earn his crack at welterweight gold, which he made good of. To be gifted a chance at becoming a two-division champion may very well be beyond what the UFC is willing, with even du Plessis claiming the same.