Dricus du Plessis is open to a fight against lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, given the right circumstances.

At UFC 311, Makhachev successfully defended his lightweight title for the fourth time, submitting short-notice replacement Renato Moicano in the first round. After his win, discussion turned to whether Makhachev will attempt to move up and pursue champ-champ status. However, Makhachev is friends and occasional training partners with current welterweight champion Belal Muhammad, making that a tough proposition. In response, Makhachev suggested he would be willing to jump up two weight classes and challenge du Plessis for the middleweight title, something “Stillknocks” has a hard time believing.

“It’s hard to really think and take it seriously right now,” du Plessis told Main Event. “I’ve got a big fight coming up, so I didn’t make anything of it. If we get to a situation where we are not at right now — he’s an incredible fighter, make no mistake. He was so incredibly good against Moicano. He proved once again why he is the pound-for-pound best in the world.

“[But] I don’t care how good you are — he obviously trains with 185ers in his gym, so he knows. He doesn’t train against me. Believe me, it’s not the same thing. Even on a technical level, the standup. His wrestling and grappling is phenomenal. I’d just overpower him, that’s what I think.”

While du Plessis may have a hard time believing it’s possible, Makhachev does not. The top pound-for-pound fighter in the world doubled down on his suggestion, saying he just needs to add a little bit of muscle and he has the tools to beat du Plessis.

Unfortunately for Makhachev, du Plessis currently has other fish to fry as he defends his middleweight title in a rematch with former champion Sean Strickland next Saturday at UFC 312. Should he be successful then, a matchup with Khamzat Chimaev looms next. But after that, if the UFC wants it, du Plessis says he’d be happy to teach Makhachev a lesson in physics.

“It makes a massive difference,” du Plessis said. “He’s a big lightweight, but I’m a big middleweight. There’s a big difference between a big lightweight and a big middleweight. But if there’s ever the situation where there’s no fight for me, no fight for him that makes sense, I’ll be more than happy to do that. Easy payday.”