Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev, classic striker vs. grappler matchup, right?
That’s not how Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez sees it.
In an interview with Submission Radio, Mendez was asked about comments Della Maddalena recently made about Makhachev’s standup game being more simple compared to that of Belal Muhammad. Della Maddalena defeated Muhammad to win the welterweight championship at UFC 315 and he defends that title against Makhachev at UFC 322 on Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New
York.
Mendez isn’t bothered by Della Maddalena’s appraisal, especially if the champ keeps that energy on fight night.
“If he’s saying that, I hope that he goes in believing that because when he gets in there with Islam you’re going to find out a whole different story,” Mendez said. “I’m sorry, they’re completely different, and by no means is Islam easy for anybody in the standup. Any MMA fighter that’s a striker is not going to have an easy time with him. I’ve been with this kid going on 11 years of watching him just destroy everybody in the standup. Guys that are much better standup than him and he still destroys them.
“Don’t go by what you see. When you get in there with that man, it’s a whole different ballgame.”
Della Maddalena has been on a tear since an uninspiring 0-2 start to his pro career. He has won 18 straight fights, 12 by knockout, including three straight first-round TKOs to begin his UFC run and a dramatic third-round finish of longtime contender Gilbert Burns.
The UFC 315 main event saw Della Maddalena win a back-and-forth striking battle with Muhammad and given his impressive credentials, Mendez is treating “JDM” with the utmost respect.
“His striking is very, very good,” Mendez said. “It’s very diverse and he’s very powerful with every strike. He can hurt you with anything. He can hurt you with a kick, a knee, left hook, right hand, right uppercut, left hook, you name it. The guy’s got the total arsenal to be able to put you down, so I’m definitely fully aware of what he can do. Also, the longer it stands, there’s always a good chance he’s going to get hit, we’re going to get hit. So the longer it stands, the worse it can get for somebody. At some point or another, guys like this, they’re both volume, kind of precision strikers, so we just have to make sure that he doesn’t land any of the bombs. And he could, it could happen because of the way he does it.
“He’s not a 1-type guy. He’s a 1-2-3-4 type, then re-chambers and comes back again and he’ll switch his style while he’s punching you. He’s switching, so you’re going from orthodox to southpaw back to orthodox all while striking and that’s extremely impressive.”
Mendez holds Della Maddalena in such high regard that he’s doing something he’s claimed he’s never done before: watching tape of an opponent to help prepare Makhachev. In particular, Mendez is reviewing how Della Maddalena outworked Muhammad, a friend and training partner of Makhachev and his teammates.
“I watched it two times already, the whole fight, and I never used to so this is how much I respect him,” Mendez said. “He’s a legit contender. I know I have the best pound-for-pound fighter in my heart, in my eyes, but we still need to be on top in order to stay on top. We need to respect someone like Jack and give him the due respect by giving him every ounce of my energy to how good he is and what we need to do to not allow his strengths to overcome our potential weaknesses that he may expose.”
