Ahead of his UFC 312 rematch with Sean Strickland in Sydney on February 8 (Feb. 9, 5am SA time), middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis says his childhood goals have been achieved, and now he's aiming for the GOAT title.
Du Plessis won the middleweight title by split decision against Strickland at UFC 297 in Toronto last January before defending it against Israel Adesanya by fourth round submission at Perth's UFC 305 in August.
Having spent half his life working towards becoming a UFC champion, 'Stillknocks' is now staying motivated by considering his legacy, and aiming to be rated as the Greatest Of All Time.
The Pretoria-based fighter told ESPN: "Fighting for your first UFC world title - my whole life since the age of 16 has been about that moment, winning that belt. Once you achieve something like that, the big question comes: 'OK. Have I achieved what I want to achieve or is there more?'
"I always set my goals way higher than that, but that is a massive milestone and one that needs to be celebrated thoroughly. That's why you can't just keep on going. You have to sit and reflect on what's happened and what it means.
"Even walking out to a fight like that [first Strickland fight], knowing that it's your first UFC world title - it's a big deal. That feeling is obviously something you don't get when you defend it.
"Once you defend it - I don't think it was the first defence that played the [motivational] role. It was about: 'This is the next fight.'"
Du Plessis admitted that facing Nigeria-born New Zealander Adesanya, a fighter who had dominated the middleweight division for several years, gave him a huge boost.
He said: "Obviously, fighting a great like Israel Adesanya, who has been in that situation so many times - that's the difference in that fight, because in winning the belt, I was fighting with Strickland.
"This is his first time being here too. He had to at short notice fight a world title [and] got it. [Then], he has to defend it. This is a new era for him and for me.
"Adesanya [previously] had more fights as a champion [in at least one division] than as a non-champion, so that is a completely different situation to deal with, but at the end of the day, it all comes down to the same thing: my first ever pro fight and my last pro fight - or fighting for the belt - felt exactly the same.
"[I always told myself]: 'I need to win this next fight, because this is the fight that is going to get me the next one. This is the fight that's leading to the ultimate goal of being the greatest, so regardless of what's on the line, the fight needs to be won.'"
If Du Plessis aims to become the greatest middleweight of all time, then two of his top competitors in terms of legacy are Adesanya and Robert Whittaker - both of whom du Plessis has already beaten.
Du Plesssis indicated a desire to eventually train with both of them, but said that he believes Whittaker will be his rival for longer than Adesanya: "In their trajectory in the sport, I think Rob has a little bit more time than Izzy just in terms of age.
"It's great to see. I would love to train with both of those guys. I think in terms of career trajectory, they know they're not going to meet up again. There's still a possibility for myself. I would love to train with Rob.
"I actually thought that he would be closer to [the point where] I could train with him, but you have to understand that he still has his title aspirations and that's going to be weird... having to train together and then having to fight each other maybe. [It's] the same with Izzy, but when it's all said and done, I would love to train with them."
Du Plessis is aware that he has his critics - including those who point to longer gaps in his fight than those between Adesanya's bouts when he was middleweight champion. However, Du Plessis believes this is unfounded.
Du Plessis said, adding that he takes his time because his training camps are tougher than fights themselves: "I was critiqued like: 'Dricus is being inactive.'
"It's [been] 13 months and three fights - not even a full 13 months - one year and three weeks and it's my third fight. As far as activity goes, I'd be happy to fight every four or five months."
Du Plessis has made no secret of his desire to fight Khamzat Chimaev, but for now, his next mission is to beat Strickland. This time, he intends to leave no room for doubt in anyone's mind over who is the better fighter.
He said: "I don't mind a decision at all. If you look at my two decision wins... Yeah, they were decisions, but I don't mind a decision like that. They were two absolute wars.
"There was nobody sitting at the fight thinking: 'This is boring. When is it ending?' That doesn't happen in my fights. I don't mind going to a decision. I just want it to be a dominant decision.
"In my mind, that fight was dominant. I remember a lot of people didn't see it that way. I want to leave absolutely no doubt. An early finish? If it comes, it comes. A late finish? Even better - breaking him down until he gives up. If it's a dominant decision, I don't mind that at all.
"Going out there and absolutely dominating - putting on a performance where it's undoubtable that I'm the best middleweight in the world; nobody can doubt that I'm the greatest middleweight in the world right now - that's what I'm after, that performance."