Islam Makhachev recently opened up about fighting self-doubt before facing Jack Della Maddalena last month.Makhachev moved up to welterweight after beating Renato Moicano via first-round submission at UFC 311 in January and was booked for a title fight against Della Maddalena in the main event of UFC 322 in New York last month.Makhachev notably dominated Della Maddalena over five rounds and won the 170-pound title via unanimous decision to become the 11th two-division champion in UFC history.In a recent interview with Red Corner MMA, Makhachev spoke about doubting himself before his welterweight title fight:"I can say that I was a bit uptight [before Della Maddalena fight] because I wasn’t sure about my conditioning for five rounds, my power and strength, and what my opponent would feel like. That’s why I felt some tension, but now I know I can fight for five rounds with anybody. I will take a few more risks and fight a slightly different fight."Islam Makhachev explains why Kamaru Usman would be his "hardest fight" at welterweightIslam Makhachev recently explained why he'd like to face Kamaru Usman next and broke down why the former welterweight champion would be his "hardest" test.In the same interview (via @RedCorner_MMA on X), Makhachev said:"I said I wanted to fight Kamaru Usman next. Although the media doesn't believe in this fight, as I can see. But in my opinion, Usman would steamroll through these up-and-comers like [Michael] Morales, [Carlos] Prates, the striker. Those guys haven't been checked yet. I think Usman would be the hardest fight for me, and in terms of media, we could build it up like a former champion, the most title defenses in my weight division. We could promote this fight and make it fun to watch."Furthermore, he highlighted Usman's dominant victory over Joaquin Buckley at UFC Atlanta:"Buckley was one of the contenders. Usman simply took him apart, and everybody has already forgotten about this guy. But if Buckley won, he would've been one hundred percent contender number one."