Israel Adesanya and Dricus du Plessis haven’t always seen eye to eye, and that trend continues ahead of Saturday’s UFC 322 event.
In the highly-anticipated headliner, Jack Della Maddalena defends the welterweight
title for the first time against former lightweight champ Islam Makhachev at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The former middleweight champions both gave their predictions for the matchup, with Adesanya leaning towards the underdog to retain his championship.
“I think Jack, in this fight with Islam, is just do what he does — do what he did [against Belal Muhammad], but better,” Adesanya said. “Just overwhelm him with punishment on the feet, and when [Makhachev] shoots — because he has to shoot, Islam’s not going to want to stand with Jack. He’s going to stand with him and then realize I need to shoot because this is where I’m supposed to win, or [what] I’m better at supposedly, and then he can’t keep Jack down. …
“I think striking wise, Islam can definitely leg kick, can definitely jab him, but I don’t think he’s going to hurt him. … But again… when Jack keeps getting up, bro, I’m not trying to count Islam out but I just know Jack. I know that when Jack keeps getting up, it’s going to be a problem, and Islam’s going to be forced to strike, and when he’s forced to strike with Jack, he’s going to get hurt. …
“I really think Jack Della Maddalena has the skills to stifle Islam’s game and be able to just put [it] on the feet and knock him out — might be second round, might be third. But we’ll see.”
Du Plessis, who stopped Adesanya in their fight at UFC 305 in August 2024, gave his thoughts on the matchup as well. “DDP” is siding with Makhachev, although he admits he’d like to see the alternative.
“If you look at [Della Maddelena’s] opponents vs. Makhachev’s opponents, Makhachev has beaten the who’s who,” du Plessis said on Fight Forecast. “He is what he is and he was the [top] pound-for-pound [fighter] for [a very long time]. He was pound-for-pound king for a very good reason. People think Jack Della’s going to be bigger. I don’t think so. That’s why they did such a long camp to pick up the weight correctly, and [Islam] looks big, and he looks thick, and he looks strong. I mean, no doubt, he’s a hard worker.
“But this one, I think with Jack Della, I love his style, I love him, I like his personality. I would love for him to [retain] that belt. But unfortunately, I cannot go against Makhachev in this one. I think he is just so good. I think he’s so good, and I don’t think he’s going to give up anything going up in weight. I think he’s going to be great at that weight, to be honest.”
