Islam Makhachev convincingly defeated Jack Della Maddalena to claim the welterweight title at UFC 322 on Saturday night and now he’s targeted a former dominant champion for his first title defense.

“The two did fight very well, [Michael] Morales and [Carlos] Prates, but I still think Kamaru [Usman] can beat them both,” Makhachev said on the UFC’s ‘About Last Fight’ show. “And Kamaru is the biggest. Young fighters are hungry, but Kamaru is still dangerous and one of the best in this game. If you give me the choice and ask me who I want to fight, I will take Kamaru. But it’s not my job. Anyone, I will be ready.”

At the peak of his powers Usman successfully defended the 170lb title five times, while on a 15-fight winning streak in the UFC, so it’s easy to see why Makhachev still holds him in such high regard.

However, the 38-year-old Usman did then go through a tough spell that saw him lose three fights in a row, albeit with two of those against Leon Edwards and Khamzat Chimaev only by narrow majority decision verdicts.

Usman has managed to get back on track since though with a unanimous decision victory over Joaquin Buckley, but given that he’s only ranked No.8 at this stage it remains to be seen if the UFC will be as keen on the idea of it as Makhachev is.

Regardless of who he comes up against next though, it seems that Makhachev believes that moving up to 170lbs has now made him better than ever.

“I swear, I feel different today inside the cage,” Makhachev said. “When I take [Maddalena] down, I feel I can control that like anyone. I just feel more power, I can hold him, I can do whatever. He defends very well. I know he’s working with some of the coaches to defend submissions and he defends very well, but still, I just take him down and control, very easy.”

Watch Makhachev’s thoughts in full below.