Dustin Poirier looks at the UFC 322 main event between Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev with one major factor at play.
Della Maddalena defends his welterweight title for the first time against the former lightweight champion in the headliner of the UFC’s return to Madison Square Garden this Saturday. Poirier is quite familiar with Makhachev after spending over four rounds in the octagon with him at UFC 302 in June 2024, where “The Diamond” gave Makhachev one of his toughest fights to date,
but eventually losing via submission in the fifth round.
Poirier, like most of the MMA community, is counting down the days to see if Della Maddalena could begin his title reign by knocking off one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best, or if Makhachev can become a two-division champion.
“I’m excited for [Makhachev],” Poirier told MMA Fighting. “He made history. He’s trying to continue making history. I’m going to be there in attendance with Bud Light for that event at Madison Square Garden, so [I’m] excited to see that in person.
“To pick a fighter in this one, I think both guys are great at certain things. It’s all going to come down to the takedown defense of JDM. If he can get back up to his feet, if he can use the fence, or stay off the fence, use his boxing, I think he definitely could give Islam a lot of troubles in the center of the octagon. He’s a great striker. He’s big and powerful.”
Della Maddalena captured the title with a Fight of the Year contending decision win over Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 in May. “JDM” is 8-0 in the UFC, and brings an incredible 18-fight win streak into the massive main event.
Makhachev competes for the first time after vacating the lightweight title for a new challenge at welterweight. The 34-year-old has won 15 straight bouts, which includes four successful lightweight title defenses. In his most recent bout, Makhachev made quick work of short notice challenger Renato Moicano at UFC 311 in January after Arman Tsarukyan was pulled from the event’s headliner the day before.
After competing against the fellow lightweight great in the past, Poirier has insight to what Makhachev brings to the table in terms of physicality — which is why Poirier doesn’t believe Makhachev will be giving up too much size and strength.
“A lot of times we think about a lightweight going up to welterweight — it’s a 15-pound weight difference. But Islam is not a small man. He’s not short. I don’t know, maybe he’s 5’11”, and he’s big. He’s a big guy. It’s not like he’s having to put on years of muscle to make this leap to the next weight class, he’s a guy who’s been holding his body back from naturally being bigger like he wants to be so he can compete in the lightweight division. He’s going to fill into this weight class, and he’s not going to look like a lightweight moving up to welterweight. He’s going to look like a solid welterweight in a title fight.
“But it’s going to come down to his ability to get takedowns and hold JDM down. If JDM can get back up over and over and scramble, I think he’s going to give Islam a lot of problems with the exchanges of boxing.”
