Fat Joe believes everyone — including himself — is scared to go up against Busta Rhymes in a Verzuz battle.

During a recent Instagram Live session, the “All The Way Up” emcee talked about why we haven’t seen Busta participate in the popular music battle series yet. “Fat Joe scared to do Verzuz with Busta Rhymes and so is everybody else,” he said. “You gotta understand, sometimes you ever notice — you seen boxers and they knock everybody out? People be scared to fight those boxers. Busta Rhymes is gonna out-rap, out-perform anybody who goes up in a Verzuz with him. That’s a fact.”

“Yo, Busta Rhymes nobody wanna get in there with you, man,” he added. “You might have to be an honorary — they gotta give you the check for no reason.”

Busta is definitely a force to be reckoned with on the stage — and he recently proved that during his performance at the 2021 Video Music Awards. He, along with his hype man Spliff Star, rapped a medley of his biggest hits and verses, including “Look at Me Now,” “Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See” and “Pass the Courvoisier.” Busta had the crowd had the audience turnt throughout his show as he rapped his verses at his infamous quick pace.

Although Busta has not been challenged to a Verzuz battle yet, Fat Joe recently put his discography to the test when he went head-to-head against Ja Rule on the Verzuz stage. He performed several of his hits, including “Sunshine (The Light),” “So Excited,” “Another Round,” “What’s Luv” and “Lean Back.” He brought out Nelly, Ashanti and Remy Ma to join him on stage for some of his performances. The two MCs ended the night by performing their verses from “New York” and giving each other their flowers.

Check out Fat Joe’s comments below.