Following his recent record-breaking lightweight title defense, Islam Makhachev surprisingly turned his attention to middleweight king, Dricus Du Plessis.
After recently defending his lightweight title against Renato Moicano, Islam Makhachev has once again hinted at attempting to become a double champion to cement his legacy.
Going one better, the unstoppable Russian sensationally called out middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis in a plea to become a triple champion.
Makhachev has previously talked about moving up to 170lbs and has more recently hinted that he will make his permanent move up to welterweight soon as there are no lightweight contenders left.
READ MORE: Joe Rogan theorizes over true reason Arman Tsarukyan pulled out of UFC 311 main event with Islam Makhachev
Dricus Du Plessis is currently in the final stages of preparation for his UFC 312 title defense against Sean Strickland but has caught wind of Makhachev's comments, claiming it would be an 'easy payday' for him if Makhachev moved up to middleweight.
Although UFC boss, Dana White was won over by Makhachev and finally recognized as the pound-for-pound number one, he has his reservations about the 33-year-old moving up two weight classes.
"He would move up to middleweight? Yeah, I don't know about that," the UFC boss commented at a Power Slap press conference this past Thursday.
"Listen, if he wants to move up to 170 we can talk, moving up to 185 is a whole other level," he continued.
Of course, the more viable option would be for Makhachev to move up to welterweight and challenge for that title, however, the current champion of the division is his teammate and friend, Belal Muhammad.
Although the 33-year-old hasn't entirely ruled out fighting 'Remember The Name', his head coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov wouldn't be happy with that potential fight.
Belal is likely to defend his title against undefeated phenom, Shavkat Rakhmonov next and Makhachev will likely be keeping a close eye on that fight.
Having not been as active as he may have liked over the past few years, Makhachev is hopeful of defending his lightweight title again in May or June, while he waits for the welterweight path to become simpler.
And with that, the 33-year-old highlighted a potential fight against Justin Gaethje as one that could make the most sense as he is one of the only top contenders he hasn't fought yet.
Surprisingly, after Arman Tsarukyan withdrew from their UFC 311 main event just a day prior, White revealed that Tsarukyan wouldn't be given a title shot immediately again, which led to conspiracies from fans.
The UFC boss provided an update on Makhachev's potential next fight, whilst also commenting on 'Ahalkalakets' last-minute withdrawal.
"I know there's a lot of conspiracy theories out there about this, you'll just have to watch and see how this plays out."