{"id":14235,"date":"2025-01-21T18:51:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T17:51:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/?p=14235"},"modified":"2025-01-21T18:51:42","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T17:51:42","slug":"if-dana-white-send-me-contract-i-will-fight-this-guy-islam-makhachev-targets-champion-from-a-higher-weight-class","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/if-dana-white-send-me-contract-i-will-fight-this-guy-islam-makhachev-targets-champion-from-a-higher-weight-class\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;If Dana White Send Me Contract, I Will Fight This Guy&#8221; &#8211; Islam Makhachev Targets Champion From A Higher Weight Class"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Some fighters rest on their laurels after becoming the champion, but not Islam Makhachev. He is fresh off breaking the <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/mma\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>UFC<\/a> lightweight title defense record at UFC 311 with a first-round submission over Renato Moicano. The pound-for-pound king dropped a bombshell that, shortly after that, sent shockwaves through the MMA world.&nbsp;<\/p><p>The Russian champion, who already seems to be running out of challenges at 155 pounds, isn&rsquo;t just eyeing a second belt &ndash; he&rsquo;s looking to make history by becoming the first-ever three-division champion in UFC history. And he&rsquo;s not being shy about who he wants.<\/p><p><strong>Also Read: <a href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/islam-makhachev-reveals-to-daniel-cormier-the-family-member-who-never-watches-his-fights\/\" class=\"trk-cta-link\" data-cta-trk='{\"ctaType\":\"Link\",\"ctaSubType\":\"main\"}'>Islam Makhachev Reveals To Daniel Cormier The Family Member Who Never Watches His Fights!<\/a><\/strong><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Islam Makhachev Targets Middleweight Champion<\/h2><p>Fans have got to admire Makhachev&rsquo;s ambition. Most fighters dream of becoming a double champion, but this guy is out here playing career mode on expert difficulty. At the post-fight press conference, Makhachev laid out his master plan with confidence.<\/p><blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><strong><em>&nbsp;&ldquo;I can be three division (champion) also. Just give me the chance, that&rsquo;s it. I will fight with Dricus Du Plessis, give me the chance, I will fight him also. I swear if Dana White sends me the contract, I will fight him also.&rdquo;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Islam Makhachev Post-Fight Press Conference | UFC 311\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bOX7tILFrNk?feature=oembed&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>Here&rsquo;s where things get interesting. While the welterweight division would normally be his next stop, his friendship with current champion Belal Muhammad has him looking at an even bolder move. Skipping straight to middleweight would be a risky move that could either cement his legacy or serve as a harsh reality check.&nbsp;<\/p><p>The timing of this call-out is particularly spicy, considering Du Plessis is set to defend his middleweight crown against Sean Strickland at UFC 312. Makhachev&rsquo;s manager, ever the optimist, believes his fighter can handle the jump in weight classes. But there&rsquo;s a line forming at middleweight, with Khamzat Chimaev likely next in line for a title shot.&nbsp;<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1080\" height=\"486\" src=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/e48da6fef5344aa5871b51fe32a9580a-14.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-13749\" style=\"width:688px;height:auto\"><\/figure><p>Still, fans can&rsquo;t fault Islam Makhachev&rsquo;s heart. Whether this ambitious plan comes to fruition or not, one thing&rsquo;s for sure: the lightweight champion is thinking way outside the box, or in this case, way above his weight class!<\/p><p><strong>(Image Credit: Gary A. Vasquez &ndash; Imagn Images)<\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"mm-layout mm-layout-type-post mm-layout-slot4\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some fighters rest on their laurels after becoming the champion, but not Islam Makhachev. He is fresh off breaking the UFC lightweight title defense record at UFC 311 with a first-round submission over Renato Moicano. The pound-for-pound king dropped a bombshell that, shortly after that, sent shockwaves through the MMA world.&nbsp; The Russian champion, who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":14242,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_mux_skip_reasons":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1783],"tags":[1868,1859,1863,1821,2496],"class_list":["post-14235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mma","tag-belal-muhammad","tag-dana-white","tag-dricus-du-plessis","tag-islam-makhachev","tag-ufc-311"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>&quot;If Dana White Send Me Contract, I Will Fight This Guy&quot; - Islam Makhachev Targets Champion From A Higher Weight Class - The Playoffs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev sets his sights on a champion from a higher-weight class, aiming for a major challenge.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/if-dana-white-send-me-contract-i-will-fight-this-guy-islam-makhachev-targets-champion-from-a-higher-weight-class\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;If Dana White Send Me Contract, I Will Fight This Guy&quot; - Islam Makhachev Targets Champion From A Higher Weight Class - The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev sets his sights on a champion from a higher-weight class, aiming for a major challenge.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/if-dana-white-send-me-contract-i-will-fight-this-guy-islam-makhachev-targets-champion-from-a-higher-weight-class\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Playoffs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-01-21T18:51:42+01:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/USATSI_25225080_168415981_lowres.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1607\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1081\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zaid Quraishi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ThePlayoffsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ThePlayoffsEN\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zaid Quraishi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/if-dana-white-send-me-contract-i-will-fight-this-guy-islam-makhachev-targets-champion-from-a-higher-weight-class\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/if-dana-white-send-me-contract-i-will-fight-this-guy-islam-makhachev-targets-champion-from-a-higher-weight-class\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Zaid Quraishi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/theplayoffs.news\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/ccd5901be00586ad6098d47c91b67e29\"},\"headline\":\"&#8220;If Dana White Send Me Contract, I Will Fight This Guy&#8221; 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