Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena faces arguably the toughest task in MMA this weekend in his first UFC title defence against Islam Makhachev.
The 29-year-old from Perth takes on Makhachev at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Sunday (AEDT) as the Russian pound-for-pound king makes the move up to welterweight after four successful defences at lightweight.
UFC 322: Della Maddalena vs Makhachev | SUN 16 NOV 2PM AEDT | Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena puts his welterweight title on the line against Pound for Pound great and former lightweight champ Islam Makhachev | Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports
Two of those were against fellow Aussie Alex Volkanovski, who was unlucky not to win in Perth 2023 before getting savagely knocked out by Makhachev after taking a rematch on 11 days notice.
Maddalena is on an 18-fight MMA winning streak, while Makhachev hasn’t lost a fight in 10 years, as he aims to join the exclusive club of UFC fighters to be crowned champion in multiple divisions.
The Aussie is a $3.10 underdog with the bookies but he’s trained with Volkanovski and renewed grappling guru Craig Jones to ensure he can mix it with Makhachev if the imposing Dagestani fighter takes the fight to the mat.
“I had Volk over and Craig Jones, and two other guys from both from America came over, so a good team,” Maddalena told news.com.au, speaking as an ambassador for True Protein.
“I’ve been doing heaps of technical stuff. Islam is very good at grappling, so just working on certain defences to chokes, different ways of getting back to the feet and then also just trying different techniques to avoid the grappling in general.
“His bread and butter is holding people down, beating them up and then getting the submission. Obviously trying to avoid that would be ideal and keeping it on the feet where I think I’ve got the biggest advantage.”
Pressed on his game plan for beating Makhachev, ‘JDM’ said he would aim to inflict damage and finish the fight before the five rounds are over.
“Make him really work hard in those grappling exchanges and then get back to the feet where he’s tired and then just continue to damage him,” the Aussie said of his blueprint.
“Try and hit and not get hit and just get ahead of him, damage him and then try and get the finish, you know. That’s what I’m going, trying to finish the fight before the final bell.”
Della Maddalena is as understated a UFC champion as they come, best known for his crooked nose and brutal knockout power.
And who could forget his cornerman’s speech during his last fight against Belal Muhammad — “You’ve got five minutes to realise all four f***ing dreams. Safety first, stay focused, keep pinging the c***.”
In September, Della Maddalena signed a lucrative six-fight contract extension with the UFC in recognition of the new champion’s pulling power as a knockout artist. But fame clearly hasn’t gone to his head since winning the welterweight belt.
“No, life hasn’t really changed a whole lot,” he said.
“It’s something I’ve always obviously worked for bigger challenges.
“Every fight I always try and think that every fight’s a bigger, more challenging fight. So I’ve always just been on that same course.
“Not much has changed. This is a big challenge against really one of the great fighters of the generation. Something I’m looking forward to.
“I feel like I’m tackling another challenge rather than defending a belt or anything. Just tough fight in front of me and I’m just gonna it my all and attack the challenge head on.”
Della Maddalena added he wants to “really want to clear out the division and rest my case and leave one of the great welterweight careers behind me”.
WHAT TIME IS UFC 322 IN AUSTRALIA?
The prelims kick off at 12pm AEDT on Sunday, and the main card will begin at 2pm. We can expected Jack Della Maddalena to enter the Octagon later in the afternoon.
Purchase the pay-per-view via Kayo Sports or Main Event.
UFC 322 MAIN CARD
Jack Della Maddalena vs Islam Makhachev (main event, welterweight)
Valentina Shevchenko vs Weili Zhang (co-main, women’s flyweight)
Sean Brady vs Michael Morales (welterweight)
Leon Edwards vs Carlos Prates (welterweight)
Beneil Dariush vs Benoit Saint-Denis (lightweight)
PRELIMS
Bo Nickal vs Rodolfo Vierira (middleweight)
Roman Kopylov vs Gregory Rodriques (middleweight)
Erin Blanchfield vs Tracy Cortez (women’s flyweight
Malcolm Wellmaker vs Cody Haddon (bantamweight)
