Dricus du Plessis is gearing up for a title defense against former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya next weekend at UFC 305, but “Stillknocks” might have to look out for Islam Makhachev after that.
Earlier this week, Makhachev’s head coach, Javier Mendez, teased a potential move up to middleweight for the reigning UFC lightweight champion. Of course, Makhachev still has some unfinished business at lightweight and after that he would have to knock off the champion at welterweight, but Mendez believes Makhachev is the pound-for-pound best for a reason.
That said, Makhachev would be noticeably undersized if he ever decided to make a move to 185 pounds. Waiting for him would be a hulking champion like du Plessis, who is one of the larger fighters in the middleweight division. He also hasn’t lost since entering the promotion back in 2020, turning in a 7-0 UFC record en route to capturing the undisputed title.
Earlier this week, du Plessis was asked about Makhachev and how he’d fair in a huge move up two weight classes. The reigning UFC middleweight champion scoffed at the idea as he believes the lightweight king would simply be too small.
“I mean what can I say? Everybody can dream right, I always say never cap your dreams, dream big, but he’s dreaming real big. I’m very big,” du Plessis told Kevin Iole.
If both du Plessis and Makhachev keep winning long enough to actually meet inside of the cage does Islam even stand a chance? Or is du Plessis simply too big of a fighter?
Let us know!