But securing a victory over current welterweight champion, Jack Della Maddalena, in the UFC 322 pay-per-view (PPV) main event this weekend in New York City would certainly put Makhachev “in that conversation.” That’s according to former middleweight titleholder, Michael Bisping, who is not in any hurry to start handing out GOAT memberships.

“It doesn’t sound right,” Bisping told MMA Junkie. “Maybe I’m not giving him his credit there. When you look at Anderson Silva, his second fight in the UFC he became the champ. He beat Chris Leben, then he beat Rich Franklin to become the champion. So the majority of those 16 wins were title defenses. That’s a little different. When you talk about Jon Jones, there’s a lot of title defenses in there, as well. Same with Georges St-Pierre. I’m certainly not critiquing Islam Makhachev’s career. I’m not nit-picking or discrediting it at all. If he gets the job done, I think without question he deserves to be in that conversation.”

None of this matters if Makhachev is unable to emerge victorious at UFC 322 and he’s facing a younger champion who hasn’t lost in over nine years. Maddalena, 29, took over the welterweight throne by defeating Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 last May and plans to send Makhachev back down to 155 pounds.

“I’m sort of hoping for that narrative,” Maddalena (18-2) told MMA Fighting. “That means I’ve done my job and put him back in his place. Honestly, that’s sort of the narrative I’m hoping that comes the day after the fight is that he’s just a lightweight, he would never do well in the welterweight division. It’s a hard one because obviously he hasn’t done anything in the welterweight division but I think his resume is very respectable.”

“I definitely feel like I’ve got the underdog mentality this time around,” Maddalena added. “I feel like I’ve got everything to prove. But I like it that way. It gives me more motivation. A lot of drive to prove I’m the champion and then solidify my spot as the top guy. I feel like I’m definitely the underdog. I feel like a little bit I’m being written off. Come fight night, and after the fight, I think there’s going to be a lot of different opinions on it.”

We’ll find out on Saturday night.

To see who else is fighting at UFC 322 this weekend in New York click here.