Ahead of his own return at UFC 305 later this month, undisputed middleweight champion, Dricus du Plessis has laughed off a potential move to his stomping ground for lightweight best, Islam Makhachev – claiming the Russian is entitled to “dream” like everybody else.
du Plessis, the current undisputed middleweight champion, headlines UFC 305 next weekend in Perth, Australia – taking on the returning former two-time titleholder, Israel Adesanya in his first defense of the divisional crown.
Winning gold back in January at UFC 297, promotional-perfect star, du Plessis turned in a controversial spiit decision win over Sean Strickland, minting himself as the undisputed middleweight champion.
Dricus du Plessis claims Islam Makhachev is dreaming too big
And ahead of his return against Adesanya in his first championship setting, du Plessis has laughed off prior claims from Makhachev’s head coach, Javier Mendez how his student is good enough to excel as high as middleweight.
“Everybody can dream, right?” Dricus du Plessis told Kevin Iole. “I always say, never cap your dreams. Dream big, but he’s (Islam Makhachev) dreaming real big. I’m very big. Of course, in this sport, everybody wants that. Especially after it’s been done. I completely understand going up to another division and fighting for another belt because here comes a stage where it makes sense and Makhachev right now, there’s people still left to fight. …”
During his run through middleweight contenders, du Plessis became the first fighter other than incoming foe, Adesanya to defeat former gold holder, Robert Whittaker – stopping the ex-champion with a stunning knockout win in their title eliminator in the summer of last year.
Prior to that, the Pretoria native stopped former welterweight title chaser, Darren Till with a third round neck crank in their high-profile pairing the December prior.
Would Dricus du Plessis vs. Islam Makhachev be a competitive fight?