Dana White is not quite interested in Islam Makhachev moving up to the middleweight division. With Islam Makhachev, things have been going quite rosy in the recent past. Ever since submitting Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title, the Dagestani has been on a roll. His latest victim was Renato Moicano, who stepped in immediately after Arman Tsarukyan had to pull out due to injury.
With uncontested dominance in the lightweight realm, Makhachev wanted to up the ante a little bit. He expressed his wishes in moving up the weight and fighting for the middleweight belt. However, as per Dana White, Makhachev’s move to the 185 lbs might be a bit of a stretch.
“I don’t know about that. If he wants to move up to 170 we can talk, moving up to 185 is a whole other level,” White stated in a recent media interaction.
Dana White reacts to Islam Makhachev saying he’d be willing to move up to 185 to fight Dricus du Plessis:
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) January 30, 2025
“I don’t know about that. If he wants to move up to 170 we can talk, moving up to 185 is a whole other level.”
🎥 @ufc #UFC #MMApic.twitter.com/0bbdUfRm9z
Now, such a statement would make Makhachev’s dreams of becoming a two-time champion a bit complicated. This is because, at 170 lbs, the current champion is Belal Muhammad. And since the two have a good rapport it is unlikely that they would fight. Meanwhile, Makhachev has already gotten a stern warning from the UFC middleweight champion.
Dricus Du Plessis Issues A Warning To Islam Makhachev
Dricus Du Plessis is the UFC middleweight champion and he is not giving it away easily. As ‘Stillknocks’ prepares to defend his belt against Sean Strickland, he had some stern words for the lightweight king. Reacting to Makhachev’s 185 lbs claims, Du Plessis stated that he would easily overpower him.
“I’ll overpower [Islam] 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,” Du Plessis stated via ‘FOXSportsAUS.’
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Dricus du Plessis reacts to Islam Makhachev saying he'd be willing to move up to 185 and fight him:
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) January 24, 2025
"I'll overpower [Islam] 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."… pic.twitter.com/y3MlZUKG66
Thus, it is evident that Islam Makhachev’s chances of a middleweight move are looking complicated. However, it remains to be seen how things pan out in the future.
Also Read: Islam Makhachev Sounds Doubtful About His Chances Of Finishing Dricus Du Plessis At 185lbs
