By FCF Staff

Now that Belal Muhammad is no longer holding the UFC’s welterweight belt, Islam Makhachev hasn’t wasted anytime warning the new champ he’s coming for his title.

Leading up to UFC 315, the expectation was that if Muhammad lost the belt to Jack Della Maddalena, Makhachev would move up to challenge the new champion. If Muhammad, who is a teammate of Makhachev, had defended, then the lightweight king would face Ilia Topuria next.

Immediately after Della Maddalena’s unanimous decision win on Saturday, Makhachev proclaimed via social media that it’s “time to become a double champion.” When Della Maddalena was asked about facing Makhachev next, the Australian said he would welcome the opportunity to avenge Alexander Volkanovski’s losses to the renowned fighter. The current featherweight champ, who is also from Australia, lost to Makhachev twice.

Since then, the Dagestani star posted this response to Della Maddalena:

“You are not Volk I will show you different level. Keep my belt clean“

Makhachev (27-1) is coming off a submission win over Renato Moicano in January, which marked the fourth time he’s defended the lightweight title.

Della Maddalena (18-2), meanwhile, has now gone 8-0 in the UFC.

It’s not clear at this juncture if the UFC will insist Makhachev vacate the lightweight title. Heading into UFC 315, the champion said via social media that he was not planning to do so.

Ilia Topuria, who vacated the featherweight title earlier this year to move up to lightweight, is expected to fight Charles Oliveira next.