Jack Della Maddalena did not have a good night at UFC 322, and his coach is making no excuses.
This past Saturday, Della Maddalena lost his welterweight title after being dominated by Islam Makachev for
25 minutes in the main event of UFC 322 in New York City. In the immediate aftermath, Della Maddalena’s coach, Ben Vickers, released a statement about their disappointment in the outcome, and a few days later, the Scrappy MMA leader is still just as bummed.
“We’re not happy with the performance, let’s put that out there,” Vickers told Submission Radio. “I feel like Jack could have done better. I feel like, for once in his life, maybe Jack didn’t have his best performance and put his best foot forward when it mattered, which he’s always done throughout his whole career. So, for the fact that on his bad night, when you have an off night in this sport, it’s very humiliating, and on his worst night — I don’t even want to go into it. I don’t want to sound like we count a victory, not getting stopped. We lost. We were comprehensively beaten, and we need to do better.”
Shortly after UFC 322, multiple MMA luminaries spoke about the fight, criticizing the former welterweight champion and Vickers for his performance against Makhachev, and Vickers agrees, saying they had a plan entering the fight, but didn’t execute it well.
“The game plan was movement, but I feel like we never got the movement going,” Vickers said. “We had sort of routes to the feet, on the floor, but for whatever reason, we couldn’t start executing and getting to the first point of those routes. Islam did such a good job. And I don’t want to go too much into the game plan, because it’s a game plan we will use again. I don’t think there was an issue with the game plan, just the execution.
“Definitely more movement. Obviously, we didn’t want to be on the ground for 19 minutes of a 25-minute fight. We wanted to do some damage, wanted to do death by a thousand cuts, just pick away from the outside. It just wasn’t our night.”
It certainly wasn’t, and now “JDM” finds himself back in the middle of a dense pack of welterweight contenders. And with a one-sided loss to the current champion, Della Maddalena is likely out of the title picture, at least for a little while. But Vickers still has the utmost confidence in his fighter.
“We had a good camp, I’m not going to lie,” Vickers said. “I’m not going to make any excuses. We had a good camp, and his last session, his fight simulation session, was great, and we were excited and positive coming into the fight. It’s just tough sometimes with the bright lights and all that to execute. And unfortunately, our issue on the night was execution of a game plan that we put together. And we couldn’t do that.
“But I still firmly believe … Jack can beat Islam Makhachev. And I believe Jack will beat a couple more welterweights, and whoever’s got the strap, we’re looking for it. We climbed the mountain once from our little shed in Western Australia, and we’re prepared to do it again.”
TOP STORIES
Statement. Jack Della Maddalena releases a statement after loss to Islam Makhachev at UFC 322.
Dislike. ‘He’s just a mouthy little rich pr*ck’: Dan Hooker explains why he dislikes Arman Tsarukyan so much.
Reaction. Colby Covington reacts to Islam Makhachev’s lopsided title win at UFC 322.
Farewell. Rico Verhoeven vacates GLORY heavyweight title after 12 years as champion, but is not declaring retirement.
Replacement. Waldo Cortes-Acosta steps in on 3 days’ notice to save UFC Qatar heavyweight bout.
Rankings. Valentina Shevchenko cements No. 1 spot—is she now the GOAT?
Mailbag. Islam Makhachev had all the answers for Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322.
VIDEO STEW
Between the Links.
Dan Hooker interview.
UFC 322 Fight Motion.
UFC Qatar main event fighters.
Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo breakdown UFC Qatar.
SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE
Khamzat Chimaev flew out to support Arman Tsarukyan at UFC Qatar.
Arman Tsarukyan knows ball.
Dan Hooker, not as much.
Man got the biggest win of his life and had to go back to a construction job. This sport, man.
Usman.
Arnold Allen trolling the people.
Amosov.
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Waldo Cortes-Acosta (15-2) vs. Shamil Gaziev (14-1); UFC Qatar, Nov. 22.
Usman Nurmagomedov (20-0) vs. Alfie Davis (20-5-1); PFL, Feb. 7.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Really excited for this weekend. Daytime MMA is always lovely, and UFC Qatar is a very solid card. Our cup runneth over right now.
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