Dricus Du Plessis is solely focused on defending his title against Sean Strickland at UFC 312, so he “did make much” of Islam Makhachev’s comments about a potential move to middleweight.
Following this past weekend’s lightweight title defense against Renato Moicano at UFC 311, Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) said he thinks he’s capable of winning UFC belts in three divisions. He specifically mentioned Du Plessis at 185 pounds as a fight he wouldn’t hesitate to accept, despite seemingly being much smaller in stature.
Du Plessis (22-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC), who will attempt to retain his title against the man he took it from 13 months ago in Strickland on the Feb. 8 card at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney (ESPN+, ESPN2/Disney+, ESPN+), has not given Makhachev’s comments much thought, he said. However, he can only see one scenario where that type of champ-vs-champ fight ever comes together.
