A UFC welterweight contender believes Jack Della Maddalena is a ‘tougher’ fight than expected for Islam Makhachev.
Makhachev is looking to secure his place as a UFC pound-for-pound fighter when he moves up one weight class to take on champion Della Maddalena in November.
Already looking bigger ahead of this interesting clash, the dominant Russian lightweight was knocked off the top spot on the P4P list by the division’s newest champion, Ilia Topuria.
But he is daring to be great against the top welterweight in the organisation, who defeated Belal Muhammad in May to claim the belt.
UFC star praises Jack Della Maddalena and believes Islam Makhachev is in for ‘tough’ title fight
The Australian is a fighter in demand as a Khamzat Chimaev fight has been floated since the new middleweight champion mentioned a move back down, which JDM’s coach believes Chimaev is too much of a ‘risk’.
While some are backing the man moving up a weight class to take home a second divisional title, contender Sean Brady feels his fellow 170 lb fighter has been overlooked.
During a UFC Unfiltered interview, the star was unsure whether Islam knows what he is getting into with the challenge of the 28-year-old.
Brady said: “I think it’s a lot tougher of a fight for Islam than people are giving Jack credit for.
“Jack’s very hard to hold down. He’s a big body, hits like a freight train, has knockout power, and he’s shown that getting someone down doesn’t mean d- – -.
“Can you hold him down? Jack’s really good at creating scrambles, getting back to his feet, and separating the hands. Like, we’d seen that with Belal.”
The American has reestablished himself as a contender for the title after a three-fight win streak, which saw him beat former champion Leon Edwards.
He is predicting a win for the Perth MMA star, but has a selfish reason for wanting a victory for Makhachev instead.
“Selfishly for me, I want Islam to win because I want to fight Islam for a legacy thing, and I think I can beat Islam,” he said.
“I think I can beat anybody in the world, and I want my grappling to go against his grappling and see who’s better. I really would love for that to play out. But if I had to pick, and I know Jack would be the underdog, I would pick Jack.”
UFC announces title fight and big British return on UFC 322 undercard of Jack Della Maddalena vs Islam Makhachev
A clash between two top fighters from their respective divisions is not the only great P4P contest fans can expect on UFC 322 on November 15th.
The women’s flyweight division will see Valentina Shevchenko defend her belt against the former strawweight champion Zhang Weili.
Weili dropped her strawweight title to take this opportunity at the division above against the two-time flyweight champion, Shevchenko.
British fans now know the return date of the former welterweight champion Leon ‘Rocky’ Edwards, who competes on the card against Carlos Prates.
‘Rocky’ has not fought since his loss to Brady in London in March this year, whereas his opponent bounced back from a defeat to Ian Garry with a spinning elbow knockout of Geoff Neal at UFC 319.