Jack Della Maddalena relishes the opportunity to avenge Alexander Volkanovski’s losses to Islam Makhachev.
Della Maddalena (17-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) challenges welterweight champion Belal Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) in the UFC 315 headliner (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) May 10 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
UFC lightweight champion Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) is eager to chase dual-champion status but isn’t willing to face his friend, Muhammad, in order to achieve it. However, if Della Maddalena becomes welterweight champ, Khabib Nurmagomedov mentioned the possibility of Makhachev facing the Aussie.
“That would be nice,” Maddalena responded on “the Grin Reapers” YouTube channel . “In Perth. That would be a bit of a story, Volk (revenge). We’ll see. Anything’s possible. We get through Belal, and then I think, yeah, I guess just opportunities will present themselves.”
Two of Makhachev’s four lightweight title defenses have come against Volkanovski. After losing to Makhachev a second time at UFC 294, Volkanovski lost his featherweight title to Ilia Topuria by knockout. However, Volkanovski got the opportunity to reclaim his 145-pound title when Topuria relinquished his belt. He defeated Diego Lopes at UFC 314 to capture the vacant belt and become a two-time featherweight champion.
“In my opinion, maybe Australia’s – obviously, I’m a bit biased, but Australia’s greatest athlete,” Maddalena said of Volkanovski. “You’d have to put him up there. Maybe if he didn’t win this one, you wouldn’t put him in that list, but after winning this one, I think you have to put him in the conversation.”
