Outside Source
Jack Della Maddalena will lean on an invaluable resource for his UFC 322 title defense. | 📷: Getty/UFC
Jack Della Maddalena knew who to call before the ink even dried on the contract.
The 29-year-old Australian will defend the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title against Islam Makhachev in the UFC 322 headliner on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. Once the match was made official, Della Maddalena turned to one of his closest friends and confidants: two-time featherweight champion and future hall of famer Alexander Volkanovski, who happens to be the only man who has fought Makhachev twice.
Volkanovski lost a competitive five-round unanimous decision to the Russian at UFC 284 in February 2023, then was victimized by a head kick and follow-up punches in the first round of their rematch some eight months later. Few outside of Mackhachev’s inner circle know him better.
“We spoke in depth and went into depth about what Islam’s strong at, things maybe he didn’t expect in the fight that he was good at, so we came together with the team and sussed out a game plan,” Della Maddalena said at UFC 322 media day. “Volk’s the man. He’s obviously an inspiring character in Australia. He’s one of Australia’s greatest athletes, I believe. Just to be able to call him a friend [and] to be able to watch him train is inspiring for me and definitely shows the level of where you need to put yourself to get to the heights that he’s gotten to.”
Time will tell whether or not Della Maddalena can put those invaluable resources to use in the most important fight of his career. Though he finds himself on a remarkable 18-fight winning streak ahead of his showdown with Makhachev, he has dealt with his share of adversity in the past. Della Maddalena lost his first two bouts as a pro in 2016—one by technical knockout, the other by submission—and stood at a crossroads early in his mixed martial arts journey. The two options? Give in to doubt, or dust himself off and move forward. He chose the latter.
“It was sort of a no-brainer,” Della Maddalena said. “I still loved training, still wanted to compete more. I guess there was a lot riding on that third fight. Maybe if that had gone different, it would have been a different story. I loved the sport, trusted the team and just stuck at it.”
Della Maddalena won the next fight—he cut down Brandt Cogill with a first-round elbow strike under the Eternal MMA banner—and then 17 more after it, his run to prominence culminating with an upset of Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 that brought him the welterweight championship on May 10. It felt as though he barely had time to exit the cage before talk of a potential superfight opposite Makhachev surfaced. Della Maddalena made it a priority to stay on an even keel despite his newfound fame and the six-pound championship belt draped over his shoulder.
“Nothing’s really changed,” he said. “I’ve always just looked forward to the next big challenge. We knew about the fight pretty much straight away, so it was just back to the gym, back to reality and then chasing another big challenge. I still have that underdog mentality. I feel like I’ve got everything to prove. I enjoy the underdog role. I just believe in myself, believe in my team and trust the process.”
In the Footsteps of B.J. Penn, Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier
Makhachev, 34, has entrenched himself as one of the sport’s pound-for-pound greats. The Khabib Nurmagomedov protégé has rattled off 15 straight wins, 10 of them finishes, and carries a stellar 27-1 record into the cage. Makhachev captured the vacant lightweight championship with an arm-triangle choke submission of Charles Oliveira at UFC 280 in October 2022, then consolidated his reign with successful title defenses against Volkanovski (twice), Dustin Poirier and Renato Carneiro before relinquishing his throne to pursue gold at 170 pounds. Now, he seeks to make history at Della Maddalena’s expense. Should Makhachev dethrone the Aussie, he would become just the second mixed martial artist—B.J. Penn was the first—to win UFC titles in the lightweight and welterweight divisions. Della Maddalena embraces the opportunity to stonewall those efforts.
“I’m super excited,” he said. “It’s obviously a big challenge [against] one of the best fighters ever in the UFC, so I’m looking forward to testing myself against him. I’ve got the skills. I think everyone can give people tough fights. If he’s not expecting a tough fight, he’ll be in for a rude awakening.”
Della Maddalena views the confrontation with the favored Makhachev as a defining moment in his career. That it will unfold on the hallowed ground of one of the most celebrated venues in all of sports—inside the very building where Muhammad Ali met Joe Frazier in the “Fight of the Century” in 1971—only adds to the possibilities.
“It’s a big challenge in a pretty iconic spot, so I’m pretty excited to go out there and leave some of myself in MSG,” Della Maddalena said. “Massive legacy fight [against] one of the best guys ever. Regardless of the result, [Makhachev will] go down as one of the greats, so yeah, it’s going to be a pretty good scalp on the resume.”
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
Help support MMACrazies.com when you shop Amazon by starting your online Amazon shopping at MMACrazies.com/recommends/amazon. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.
