Alex Pereira and Jon Jones might have to wait for their shot at the P4P throne, as long as Islam Makhachev remains at the top. He seldom allows anyone to claim the No. 1 spot. The debate over the P4P rankings has been ongoing, with Dana White consistently declaring Jon Jones as the P4P king while refusing to acknowledge Makhachev. However, UFC 311 marked the rise of the Dagestani champion, finally forcing White to recognize his dominance. Well, days after his victory, Makhachev has come forward to remind who is the P4P king along with good news about the next step of his career.
Uploading a photo of himself along with the media people on his Instagram story, Islam Makhachev captioned it as “Pound 4 Pound #1” The undisputed lightweight champion of the world became the P4P number one fighter back in late 2023 when he KO’d Alexander Volkanovski. He has held the P4P number one position for more than 400 days now.
Now that his pound-for-pound status is established, what’s the good news? After defeating Renato Moicano at UFC 311, Islam Makhachev emphasized his desire to finally pursue a second belt. Since he is unable to challenge Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title, the Dagestani has expressed his willingness to compete for the middleweight championship instead.
When Dana White heard about the news, he was a bit perplexed. “He would move up to middleweight? Yeah, I don’t know about that. Listen, if he wants to move up to 170 we can talk, moving up to 185 is a whole other level,” said the UFC CEO at PowerSlap press conference. However, certain reports suggest that the UFC CEO has something very big planned for the lightweight champion.
Well, jumping two divisions to clash against the champion is not a minor task as it would mean one has to fight someone who is much better built to clash in the middleweight division. Looking at this Daniel Cormier has come forward to give a brutal reality check to his friend, Islam Makhachev.
Daniel Cormier gives a reality check to Islam Makhachev about Dricus Du Plessis
At the UFC 311 post-fight press conference, Islam Makhachev asserted that if Dana White gave him the opportunity, he could defeat middleweight champion Dricus Du Plessis as well. However, facing Du Plessis would require more than just superior skills—it would mean overpowering someone with the strength to take down a bull.
Makhachev’s friend Daniel Cormier in his recent conversation asserted that the Dagestani should reconsider his decision to fight for the middleweight title, “I know it may not look as appealing to some as they want their world champion to look but, we just watched him submit Israel Adesanya. We just watched him break him down over the course of three rounds and get him to a point where Izzy got submitted… We’ve seen him beat Sean Strickland, we’ve seen him finish Robert Whittaker, at some point we have to respect Dricus du Plessis.”
He further added, “I don’t know that Islam would understand how hard it would be to fight a guy of that size.” Dricus Du Plessis might come as a middleweight on the weigh-ins, but on the fight day he is way heavier and it would be immensely difficult for Makhachev to take down such a man. Cormier’s assessment is based on his experience inside the Octagon. Regardless, what’s your take on the hubbub? State your thoughts in the comments below.
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