UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis isn’t putting much stock into Islam Makhachev potentially challenging for his title.
Dricus du Plessis and Islam Makhachev are two of the UFC’s top pound-for-pound fighters in the world. Makhachev most recently defended his lightweight title at UFC 311, and du Plessis will face Sean Strickland in a highly-anticipated championship rematch at UFC 312 next month.
Makhachev, after successfully defending the belt in a quick finish over Renato Moicano, is running out of potential new, fresh challenges in the lightweight division. He’s long hinted at a move up in weight for a pursuit at becoming a two-weight world champion, an accolade that his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov never accomplished.
After defeating Moicano at UFC 311, Makhachev hinted at potentially becoming a ‘triple champ’, earning titles at welterweight and middleweight. It would be an astounding accomplishment that no one has ever tallied in UFC history.
But not so fast, says du Plessis.
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Dricus du Plessis vows to ‘overpower’ Islam Makhachev
In a recent interview with Fox Sports Australia, du Plessis responded to Makhachev’s comments about challenging for the UFC middleweight belt.
“He trains with 185ers in his gym, but there is only one world champion. So kudos to him – but it doesn’t really matter because I’ll overpower him in any situation,” du Plessis replied. “I know he walks around heavy, but I walk around heavy. He’s a big lightweight, I’m a big middleweight.
“There’s a big difference there.” (h/t Fox Sports Australia)
Makhachev’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, has repeatedly guaranteed that the lightweight champion would dethrone du Plessis if they were ever booked to fight. An obstacle standing in the way of Makhachev’s planned move up in weight is his teammate Belal Muhammad, who holds the welterweight belt and has publically refused to face Makhachev in a champ vs. champ matchup.
As of this writing, Makhachev hasn’t responded to du Plessis’s claims, and he appears focused on at least one more lightweight title defense. A potential rematch with Charles Oliveira is an option for his next title defense, as is a potential rebooking against Arman Tsarukyan following Tsarukyan’s last-second withdrawal from UFC 311.
After making weight ahead of UFC 311, Makhachev put on 23 pounds in 24 hours when he entered the Octagon for the Moicano fight. He’s considered a big lightweight and walks around near the middleweight limit.
Islam Makhachev eyes ‘champ-champ’ pursuit after UFC 311
Depending on how the UFC lightweight title picture plays out, Makhachev could be on his way to leaving the lightweight division in favor of new challenges. He’s never competed at welterweight nor middleweight in his career, and outside of two catchweight fights, has fought at lightweight during his entire fighting tenure.
Du Plessis is coming off arguably the biggest win of his career as he defended the middleweight belt against Israel Adesanya at UFC 305 last year. A win over Strickland would likely set him up for a showdown with Khamzat Chimaev for his next title defense.
Du Plessis and Makhachev could potentially be on a collision course soon; and if the fight comes to fruition, du Plessis doesn’t give Makhachev much of a chance to make history against him.