NEW YORK — Jack Della Maddalena started boxing at 15, inspired by the Strikeforce highlights of Nick Diaz and Jorge Masvidal he’d watch with his older brother, Josh, to join a gym and get in some extra conditioning between rugby seasons. He took his first mixed martial arts fight at 18, winning a pair on the amateur circuit, before turning professional less than a year later.
And that’s nearly where it ended. Before his 19th birthday, he’d dropped his first two pro fights, getting knocked out in the third round and choked out in the first. He had a job at an invoice factoring company. A normal Australian life awaited. But after that second fight, he had a call with his coach, Ben Vickers, who told him he was too good to be 0-2. Not only was Della Maddalena going to continue fighting, Vickers insisted, he was going to one day be 10-2, and the two of them were going to laugh about that inauspicious start.
It’s nine years later now and Della Maddalena’s 18-2. Not only that, he’s UFC’s welterweight champion. Better yet, he’s headlining at Madison Square Garden. And he’s doing it against the sport’s consensus best pound-for-pound fighter, Islam Makhachev, as a future Hall of Famer moves up a division in pursuit of becoming the company’s 11th athlete to win titles in two weight classes. Good thing he won that third fight.
“Yeah, I guess there was a lot riding on that,” Della Maddalena said Wednesday at a midtown Manhattan hotel ahead of UFC 322. “Maybe if that had of gone different, it would be a different story. … But I still feel like I’m the underdog. I still have that underdog mentality. I feel like I’ve got everything to prove. So, not much has changed. I enjoy the underdog role.”
For what it’s worth, the oddsmakers agree, listing Makhachev as anywhere from a minus-250 to minus-300 favourite. Of course, it’s going to be hard to envision Makhachev losing because it hasn’t happened in a decade. His 15-fight winning streak is the second-longest in UFC history, to Anderson Silva’s 16. And he’s knocked off some awfully good competition — Arman Tsarukyan, Charles Oliveira, Alexander Volkanovski (twice), Dustin Poirier — along the way.
Makhachev’s lightweight run was the best we’ve ever seen — more consecutive defences and overall wins in title fights of anyone in divisional history, including his mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov. And that was all while depleting himself significantly to make weight and accepting a performance trade-off for a size advantage on fight night.
“When I spar with guys the last two weeks, I feel much better. Before, like three weeks out, I’m thinking about cutting weight, I start to follow the weight cut program, my energy goes down,” Makhachev said. “Honestly, this is what I want to feel — how I’m going to be in the cage. Because all my life it’s a hard weight cut and I feel I’m not recovering 100 per cent. But now a lot of things are different. And I really want to step inside the cage and feel that difference.”
What’s scary is imagining the version of Makhachev we’ll see Saturday with 15 fewer pounds to cut. He was a shadow of himself on the scales ahead of his last few lightweight fights and estimates he was competing at 60 per cent of his ability in the octagon 36 hours later. Makhachev has plenty of frame to fill out and the discipline to add weight intelligently. We’re about to see an all-time great at his strongest yet.
What’s scarier is to think about how he could utilize that weight when grappling and apply even heavier top pressure than he already does. It’s not a question of if Makhachev will shoot for Della Maddalena’s legs, but when. And once Makhachev has a hold of an opponent, the fight’s inevitably headed in one direction. Makhachev’s landed takedowns in all but one of his last 9 fights — a first-round knockout of Volkanovski. Either you take him out early, he takes you out early, or it’s going to the mat.
Della Maddalena knows how to stuff a takedown but still gave up three to Belal Muhammad his last time out, and seven to Gilbert Burns a fight prior. And Makhachev isn’t easily discouraged. Poirier gave everyone the book on how to defend Makhachev’s offensive wrestling, staying anchored to the centre of the octagon. But Makhachev still shot 16 times against Porier, landing five.
“Going in there, five rounds with Islam, you’ve got to expect to hit the ground at some point,” Della Maddalena said. “He’s battle-tested, he’s been in there against some of the best guys. So, you expect to hit the ground. But it’s what you can do with that.”
To instill the muscle memory he’ll need to defensively grapple and win scrambles against Makhachev, Della Maddellana’s turned to fellow Aussie and famed Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu star Craig Jones, who cornered him for the Muhammad fight and helped Volkanovski prepare for his two Makhachev clashes.
Of course, that last fact is the same one Makhachev points to when asked how Jones could help Della Maddelana prepare.
“His coach,” Makhachev said with a grin, “he helped Volk a lot.”
Fair enough. Of course, Volkanovski himself has been part of Della Maddelena’s training camp, too. Who better to learn from than the only UFC fighter to share an octagon with Makhachev twice?
Della Maddelana has said he wants to get Makhachev back for the two wins he holds over Volkanovski, Australia’s best MMA product. But again, Makhachev lets the facts speak for themselves.
“Alex also tried to get me back for the first fight — and the second fight was not good for him,” Makhachev said. “It’s not a good idea.”
Ultimately, distance management will be critical. Della Maddalena must stay close enough to land combinations, but far enough away to have time to react when Makhachev shoots for his legs. He needs an awareness of the distance between his back and the fence, as well, leaving enough room behind him to maneuver out of danger.
That leaves a very thin band for Della Maddalena to operate within. And he must do so with urgency. Crisp combos to keep Makhachev at bay. Fluid footwork to avoid becoming too stationary. Using Makhachev’s momentum against him to roll through any half-completed takedowns into quick exits.
The last thing Della Maddalena can do is accept a grounded position, because from there, Makhachev’s path to victory is relatively straightforward. Keep Della Maddalena prone, land some shots, make him work to defend, a few shots, advance position, more shots, exhaust him trying to regain guard, shots, threaten submissions, shots, chain wrestle through scrambles, shots, look to take the back. The earlier in the round it happens, the worse it’ll be.
Della Maddalena’s task on Saturday is to make this a boxing match. Makhachev’s striking isn’t bad, but it isn’t Della Maddalena’s. And Makhachev defends strikes better than he did earlier in his career, but he’s still very hittable.
Makahchev’s been so dominant that we’ve seldom seen how he responds when staggered. But it has happened, with disparate outcomes. Makhachev was knocked out in his second UFC fight. And he was dropped by Volkanovski in their first bout, but found a way to respond. Della Maddalena’s planning to give Makhachev’s chin another test.
“Everyone slows down over five rounds. So, we’ll try to trust the game plan and we’ll slow him down,” Della Maddalena said. “I’ve got the skills. I think everyone can give people tough fights. I think if he’s not expecting a tough fight, he’ll be in for a rude awakening.”
He may make the occasional wry comment, dipping his toe in the trash talk waters just to remind you that not only is he confident, he’s got a track record to back it up. But Makhachev has clearly taken Saturday’s challenge extremely seriously and doesn’t hesitate to call it the biggest test of his career.
He began his camp three months ago in Russia, where he put in the work necessary — both in the gym and the kitchen — to add size, moved to Dubai for a spell to build out a strategy, and arrived in New Jersey three weeks ago to acclimate to the environment. He’s displayed black eyes at multiple media appearances with significant time between them, and has visible bruising on his right cheek this week in New York. He’s preparing for war.
“Honestly, it’s the hardest camp in my life,” Makhachev said. “Because Jack, he is good, you know? He is good. I saw his fight with Belal, with many guys — he’s good everywhere. His striking is pretty good. I saw his wrestling. He can defend. His grappling, if somebody takes him down, it’s not like he’s surprised. He feels good there. But I know my skill is better.”
Fundamentally, it’s a fight of unknowns. Makahchev’s first fight in a new weight class. Della Maddalena’s first title defence. The biggest fighter Makhachev’s ever faced. The most accomplished opponent Della Maddalena’s ever seen. How Makhachev hangs with the striking. How Della Maddalena withstands the grappling. Who establishes forward pressure? Who better manages distance? Who can make adjustments and navigate fatigue?
Makhachev is chasing UFC history towards the end of a legendary career; Della Maddalena is seeking to extend the underdog run he began nearly a decade ago. For two fighters whom we know a great deal about, there’s enough uncertainty on both sides to make an unexpected result feel as possible as ever. No matter which direction it goes.
“Yeah, massive legacy fight. Islam’s one of the best ever. Regardless of the result, he will go down as one of the greats. For me, it’ll be a pretty good scalp on the resume,” Della Maddalena said. “It’s a big challenge in an iconic sports city. I’m excited to go out there and leave some of myself in MSG.”
