Jack Della Maddalena’s coach believes he has the power to knock out Islam Makhachev.
Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) became the UFC welterweight champion earlier this year when he outpointed Belal Muhammad over five rounds at UFC 315. Now, in his first title defense, the Australian is set to face former UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) in the main event at UFC 322 in Madison Square Garden on November 15.
Della Maddalena’s head coach, Ben Vickers, thinks the Australian’s power could prove decisive when he steps into the Octagon against Makhachev.
“We know for a fact if Jack clips someone clean on the chin, they can go over,” Vickers said this week during an appearance on Submission Radio. “So it could happen in the first minute, it could happen in the 24th minute, it could happen in the 24 minute 59 seconds, it could happen three rounds in. Jack likes long fights, you know he likes to be in there. But obviously we're not getting paid for overtime, so if the opportunity arises, we're happy to take it.
“But Jack's cardio, as we saw Belal reputedly (has) the best cardio in the UFC, and Jack out-cardio’d him. Belal was more tired than Jack towards the end of the fight. So, you know, Jack's cardio is exceptional, his power is exceptional. And yeah, I just, I like the fight. I really do.”
Before vacating the lightweight title to move up and challenge for Della Maddalena’s belt, Makhachev had been rumored to face Ilia Topuria (17-0 MMA, 9-0 UFC), who had also moved up from 145 pounds to compete for the lightweight strap.
After “El Matador” knocked out Charles Oliveira to win the vacant lightweight title at UFC 317 in June, he floated the idea of moving up yet another weight class to take on the winner of the bout between Della Maddalena and Makhachev.
Vickers, however, believes that would be a foolhardy move.
“He's my height, and I'm a midget,” Vickers said of the Spanish-Georgian star. “He needs to stay where he is. It would be a very bad decision for him to come up and fight Jack. They're the same fighter, essentially. He's just a midget, and Jack's a bit bigger. They do a lot of the same things very well. And I love Ilia, he's one of my favorite fighters to watch because I think he fights like they're very similar. But I don't think he has any business jumping up two weight classes and fighting Jack. But that's up to him. If he wants to do that, fair play to him. I respect it. I think Ilia is going to be at a point like Islam soon, where he can do whatever he wants because he's unstoppable.”
