Undisputed middleweight champion, Dricus du Plessis has cautioned his fellow champion and current lightweight kingpin, Islam Makhachev against a rumored move to 185lbs to face off with him — claiming a fight between the duo right now makes very little sense.
du Plessis, the current undisputed middleweight gold holder, is slated to make his return to action at UFC 312 next month, taking on former-foe and ex-titleholder, Sean Strickland in a rematch of their first pairing in January of last year, with the duo travelling to Sydney to rekindle their rivalry.
Sidelined since last summer, Pretoria native, du Plessis most recently turned in an impressive title defense win over arch-rival and two-time champion, Israel Adesanya — stopping the City Kickboxing staple with a fourth round face crank submission win.
Dricus du Plessis rules out fight with Islam Makhachev soon
And off the back of his own impressive submission win over Renato Moicano at UFC 311 last weekend, the above-mentioned, Makhachev was touted as a massive threat to fighters — as high as the middleweight limit, however, du Plessis begs to differ.
“I guess, good on him (Islam Makhachev) for trying that,” Dricus du Plessis told FOX Sports Australia during a recent interview. “He won’t get that fight now – it wouldn’t make sense. But if there should ever be a time where there is nobody to challenge me, nobody for him to challenge. Yeah, cool.”
“Look, he trains with 185ers in his gym,” Dricus du Plessis continued. “But there is only one world champion. So kudos to him for saying what he did, but it doesn’t really matter because I’ll overpower him in any situation. 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.”