While Jack Della Maddalena won’t be fighting on this weekend’s UFC Perth card, the welterweight champion is on hand in his hometown to cheer on all the local fighters competing. And then it’s right back to training for his UFC 322 title defense against former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who is moving up a weight class to try and take Jack Della’s belt.
In a new interview with Submission Radio, JDM opened up on whether he planned on being cautious or if he’d be pushing for a finish in his
upcoming fight.
“I’m gonna go for it,” he said. “I would love [it], obviously, that’d be the best case scenario to get the finish. I can see it happening, and I can see it blowing the roof off MSG taking out the pound-for-pound number one with no no doubts. A finish would be the dream.”
That would most likely be a knockout finish given the two fighters’ styles, but Della Maddalena doesn’t expect Makhachev to engage on the feet for all that long.
“I think it’s gonna start on the feet, and we’ll go from there,” he said. “But yeah, I think he’s gonna try and mix it up. I think he’s gonna probably try and get on the wrestling early, I’d imagine. Looking back on the Belal fight, he probably sees that Belal’s mistake was maybe not getting on the wrestling early. So yeah, I expect in the first round we’ll be getting to at least some grappling exchanges.”
While moving up a weight division puts Makhachev at a disadvantage against the bigger Della Maddalena, the Australian expects the toughest version of the Dagestani grappler anyone has ever faced.
“Sometimes the weight cut will slow you down,” he said of Makhachev. “I expect the best Islam. I expect [him to be] more filled out, stronger. I feel like it’s gonna be the best Islam match-up there’s been. I think the weight will probably be better for him.”
As for the talk that a win over Makhachev guarantees a big title defense in Perth, Australia, JDM shrugged it off as motivation.
“It’s a big fight, a big challenge, it’s a dangerous opponent, so I couldn’t really be more motivated,” he said. “But obviously yeah, the dream would be to get the finish over Islam and then back it up, big pay-per-view in Perth against another top challenger.”
Given the lackluster ticket sales for the current UFC Perth card, the promotion could use a Jack Della on the card when they return, win or lose.
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