Jack Della Maddalena already has other UFC champions calling his name.
UFC 315’s welterweight main event was expected to impact the lightweight title scene as International Fight Week in late June still awaits a headliner. Lightweight champion and Uncrowned’s No. 1 pound pound-for-pound fighter, Islam Makhachev, has long sought a second title up at 170 pounds, however he is both friends and occasional training partners with Belal Muhammad, meaning a Muhammad victory on Saturday night would’ve likely delayed plans for Makhachev to make the jump up to welterweight.
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After Della Maddalena, 28, successfully dethroned Muhammad via unanimous decision, Makhachev instantly took to social media and told the Aussie to “keep my belt clean.”
Despite only freshly becoming a champion, Della Maddalena is up for the challenge.
“Obviously, Islam, what he’s done, I think he deserves the shot if he wants to step up,” Della Maddalena said following the action in Montreal’s Bell Centre. “But I guess that’s not my call. It’s up to the UFC.
“I think this was a good practice match for Islam. It’s a pretty good run, but this is just the beginning. Come get it. Come get it.”
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Della Maddalena’s victory is a potential positive for Makhachev’s career, should the pound-for-pound king get his wish. Makhachev, 33, is already a record-breaking UFC lightweight champion, having broken the record for most consecutive titles defenses in the 155-pound division during his ongoing 15-fight win streak — which also doubles as the second-longest win streak in UFC history.
Muhammad carried his own 11-fight unbeaten run into UFC 315 and ultimately gave the new welterweight champ hell throughout their five-round war, but it wasn’t anything “JDM” hadn’t prepared for.
“I was expecting a tough fight,” Della Maddalena said. “Obviously he’s a good fighter, pressure fighter, good wrestling. He’s pretty well-rounded, so I was expecting a tough fight.
“He was saying he wasn’t going to shoot takedowns, but I was expecting, I guess, an all-around offense. I guess you can never expect anything. You just gotta roll with it, and that’s what I feel like I did.”
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It was high drama heading into Saturday’s final round, with Della Maddalena having done his best over the prior four to stick to his game plan of staying off the fence. Two judges had the fight tied going into Round 5, and each fighter found moments of success in the action-packed five minutes.
In the end, Della Maddalena stamped a lasting impression late, battering and bloodying the now-former champion with big punches as the fight came to a close.
“I was hoping to get him out of there,” Della Maddalena said. “I was thinking all week it would be cool to get that late fight finish like the Gilbert Burns [fight]. It felt good to rally through and then take him out at the end, but I tried.
“You never know [what will happen], but I was confident I had done pretty good work, but I guess you never know when you leave it to the judges.”
