Islam Makhachev, at UFC 311, saw an easy first-round win over last-minute replacement Renato Moicano. But the hype didn’t end there. The conversation after the fight quickly drifted to moving up, turning his champ-champ dream into reality, and doing something that Khabib Nurmagomedov never did. But seeing welterweight champ Belal Muhammad as one of the close associates of the Dagestani team, Makhachev sprung on Dricus Du Plessis, challenging him to the Octagon, “If they offered it to me tomorrow and say they will give me time to gain weight, I would not turn it down. I would 100 percent agree to fight at middleweight.”

Stillknocks’ response? He called it an easy payday. He’s open to the possibility, given the right circumstances. In an interview with Main Event, DDP said that he’s having a hard time believing that the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world has what it takes to take him down, “It’s hard to really think and take it seriously right now. I’ve got a big fight coming up, so I didn’t make anything of it… He obviously trains with 185ers in his gym, so he knows. He doesn’t train against me... I’d just overpower him, that’s what I think.”

Meanwhile, Belal Muhammad has seemingly opened the door for Islam Makhachev’s dream of becoming a double champion. “I probably only got a couple more left before I can start talking about the bums at 185,” said Muhammad. Careful, Muhammad, because DDP has already wrapped up his UFC 312 rematch against Sean Strickland where the UFC middleweight champion successfully defended his title with a lopsided decision on his record. Regardless, a much-anticipated matchup with Khamzat Chimaev looms next. But wait, it’s time we start visualizing Makhachev as a welterweight at the least because Javier Mendez has a blueprint for the UFC that will satisfy everyone.

During a recent episode of Javier Mendez Podcast, the co-host Len reflected on an interesting thing that he read. And it was indeed about Muhammad’s desire to move up to the middleweight division. As soon as Mendez heard that, he exclaimed, “If Belal is interested in going to 185, that would be superb.” But there was still a problem. For Makhachev to have a chance at a welterweight championship title reign, Muhammad would have to stay as a middleweight for quite some time. So, what did the AKA coach think of that?

Mendez put forth a situation where the UFC offered Muhammad a fight against Dricus Du Plessis. That would be when Makhachev would ask for a fight against Shavkat Rakhmonov. Well, if Muhammad were to move up to the middleweight realm, Rakhmonov would definitely be in line to claim the title and Rakhmonov vs. Makhachev would be the no-brainer fight to make. And Mendez wouldn’t even try to stop the LW champ. But…

If Muhammad failed to move up in the weight class, Islam Makhachev would have to fight at 185 pounds. And that would be pretty tough. Mendez said, “If Belal goes up, fantastic. Because otherwise than that, I mean, for Islam to go 185, he’d have to put on some muscle. He’s strong enough, but I just don’t know about the weight. He got to put on some muscle. It’s not an easy transition.

“Ability-wise, Islam can definitely do it and he can hang. but for me to feel comfortable, at 185, he’d have to put on some muscle. Because those boys are big. You’re talking about some major major studs, ’85 pounders.”

The welterweight champion had previously suggested that Makhachev should instead try to fight Dricus Du Plessis. And if Muhammad goes back on his word and offers a title shot to Islam, it might be the only way for the lightweight champ to achieve his dream. But there is more than one realistic hurdle to this plan.

Dana White does not like it when fighters refuse to fight, citing friendship. Case in point: Merab Dvalishvili and Aljamanin Sterling. Merab would not fight ‘Aljo’ for the belt and White hated everything about it. Plus, Muhammad has not had a single title defense yet, so he is not getting a middleweight title shot anyway. Why should he then give up the welterweight belt that is his biggest bargaining chip? For Makhachev too, there are bigger fights than Muhammad – Topuria for example.

While the dream still lives on, back in January, Chael Sonnen declared that the UFC big guns wouldn’t really let Makhachev take on a title fight in the heavier divisions. While the entire fanbase was getting excited about Makhachev’s second title run, why did Sonnen believe that it was just a dream? Let’s find out!

UFC veteran gives Islam Makhachev a reality check on his dreams

Well, the one thing that moved the fighting world was the bad blood between the fighters. The trash talk increased the hype around their fights as the fighting community waited in anticipation for the fighters to settle their scores in the Octagon. However, there wasn’t any bad blood between Rakhmonov and Makhachev. And that’s what ‘The American Gangster’ based his talk upon. He said, “I don’t think there’s any legitimate beef between [Shavkat] Rakhmonov and Islam. And I know that Belal and Islam are not going to do that. They’ve got the Khabib tie-in and it doesn’t matter if that’s five years deep or five months deep, once it’s there it’s there.”

Even Khabib Nurmagomedov declared that training Makhachev to fight Muhammad wouldn’t be really difficult for him. It simply wasn’t right, according to him. If he was in Makhachev’s stead, he claimed that he would never accept a fight against Muhammad. After all, relationships were way too important for the Dagestani team. There was no way they could go against a brother. But even if Muhammad exited the WW division, Sonnen believed that the UFC still wouldn’t let Makhachev fight in a different weight class. ‘The Bad Guy’ continued, “And simply Islam won’t be given the opportunity… But as far as even getting an opportunity to have another belt, I do not believe that will happen for him. I don’t think he has the charisma to go out and do what needs to be done to get that play.”

Needless to say, watching Makhachev fight as a welterweight and strive for an even greater legacy is something that the fight fans want. The UFC head honcho, Dana White, has also declared that while sending him to the middleweight realm was nigh on impossible, they can still talk about the move to the welterweight class. And because of Muhammad’s move, it can now turn into reality.

What do you think of the lightweight champion’s desire to become a UFC double champion? Do you think it can happen in 2025? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.