UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena has set his sights on a Madison Square Garden showdown with pound-for-pound No. 1 Islam Makhachev, the Australian hoping to add his name to a storied role of honour at the iconic New York City venue.
Della Maddalena is finally back home in Perth, Western Australia, following his unanimous decision victory over Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 in Montreal some 10 days ago, the Aussie on a celebratory tour of his home state as its first UFC champion, and third from Australia overall.
But the 28-year-old has had little time to pause and reflect on his achievement, with the UFC just two days later revealing that Makhachev would vacate his lightweight title for a move up to welterweight and an immediate title shot.
Not that Della Maddalena is hiding from the challenge, the Aussie saying both his body and mind had taken little damage in the dominant win over Muhammad, and that he was eager to get back to work in preparation for Makhachev.
"I think that was sort of what they were thinking was, if I won, that would be the matchup," Della Maddalena told ESPN of the immediate discussions around his first title defence. "I think that's what they're going to go with, I'm excited for the matchup, obviously.
"Pound-for-pound No. 1, he's the guy at the moment, so dream come true to take him out and then take his spot."
Della Maddalena said he felt he had Muhammad "worked out" by the end of Round 1 in Montreal and while his opponent tried multiple takedown attempts, his defence was sound enough that even when he was brought to the canvas there were never any moments of panic.
And it was that performance that Della Maddalena believes shows he has the tools to be the man to halt Makhachev's amazing unbeaten run, which now extends to 15 straight UFC victories.
"I believe I can force the fight to stay on the feet. I think if it does hit the ground, I can get back to my feet, but I think the fight obviously starts on the feet," Della Maddalena said. "I think I've got him covered on the feet, the striking department is dangerous, but I think I've got the skills to be the better man on the night.
"Islam is.... I guess a better version of Belal. He's probably got more dangerous grappling, probably a better striker, better fight IQ, more championship experience, but I look at the Belal fight as just the perfect practice match for Islam.
"I think I'll have the size advantage over Islam, but I expect him to be, -- not having to go through the weight cut to lightweight -- I think he'll be a better version of himself, so I expect a tough fight. But, as I said, I believe I've got the skills to get the job done."
While his loyal fans Down Under would love Della Maddalena to defend the welterweight strap for the first time in his homeland, the reality is there won't be another pay-per-view event in Australia in 2025.
But the West Australian could think of few better other options than Madison Square Garden, given the venue's glittering combat sports history.
"Madison Square Garden is a pretty iconic spot, I think that would be pretty cool," he told ESPN. "I've always wanted to fight there, I think it's a big matchup, I think that would be the spot.
"There's been so many [great fights there]; Muhammad Ali's fought there, I think [it was] Muhammad Ali-Joe Frazier; it's just been, yeah, a crazy venue. All the greats have fought there; obviously Conor McGregor captured double gold there. It's obviously a massive venue in a pretty wild city, so it's a good one to take that No. 1 [pound-for-pound] spot."
Della Maddalena is hopeful the fight details will be sorted within a couple of months, but said he was keen to go back to work as soon as possible to begin preparations for what will be one of the most eagerly anticipated fights in recent UFC history. With the UFC having staged pay-per-view events in New York City in November in each of the past two years, Della Maddalena may already have a pretty good guide of when next he could be back inside the Octagon.
"I'm pretty confident that Makhachev is the fight, so we're just gonna, I guess, get into it," he said. "Maybe we'll just get into it, start working on a game plan, start working the tools that will be needed to dismantle Islam
"But I think that fight will be announced within the next two months, then we'll have a day, and we hit go time."