Jack Della Maddalena Iterates No. 1 Surprising Aspect About Islam Makhachev PPV Title Fight He Thinks He’ll Find Easy

The rumblings are now set with a date and a spot as the newly crowned UFC 170lbs champ, Jack Della Maddalena, makes his first defense. He meets welterweight entrant and former #1 Pound-for-pound Islam Makhachev for it, at the UFC 322: Della Maddalena vs Makhachev PPV headliner, Live from MSG, November 15th.

Islam Makhachev has his sambo and his extreme pressure as his forte, but the dominant Dagestani was a former #1 Pound-for-pound fighter for a reason. Makhachev kicked the bejesus out of a kickboxer with a high shin. He submitted a submission;s specialist and even outboxed a longtime top boxer like ex-UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier at UFC 302, for a while.

Everyone knows Jack Della Maddalena’s key instrument would be to outstrike with his crisp boxing and deter Makhachev’s chance and chaining up singles or going for the legs. Some pundits and analysts bill that it won’t be easy, as his fight against Poirier was a testament to his prime stand-up skills.

However, JDM thinks striking with Makhachev would be much easier and in his wheelhouse than it was against Belal Muhammad. That’s as much as what he said in a media interview, earlier this year, while the rival was still #1 P4P.

I think Islam Makhachev is a better version of Belal…think his striking on the feet [is good], but only so. I even think it’s easier than Belal because he’ll just stay in one stance. He’s [got] more traditional style…yeah, he’s the pound-for-pound number one so it’s a tough fight. I guess we’ll just watch all of his fights again, make a solid game plan [for it].

Jack Della Maddalena once told The West Sport

Those like UFC analyst and PPV broadcaster Michael Bisping took umbrage with the overwhelming split in the opening odds for the PPV title fight. Makhachev is pegged as more than a moderate favorite per the early money line, with DraftKings Sportsbooks and BetOnline.Ag placing his at -278.

Makhachev’s title fight history, with 4 previous defenses and a 15-fight UFC winning streak, gives him an edge and places him as a comfortable betting favorite. And why shouldn’t it? He has gone through tough competition and defeated some top names at their own games. However, even Team Khabib and Makhachev’s coaches think JDM will be different due to his all-around skills and size.

The Aussie man himself thinks it’s not just about a disparity in frame. JDM sees Makhachev’s striking style as lead-footed and reactionary, scooping out at incoming targets. But he himself is far different and a better boxer. Bisping himself, along with other pundits, projected that JDM’s UFC 315 PPV title win in Montreal against Muhammad was a good warm-up.

The welterweight champ agrees; Belal Muhammad is an all-around tough fight and while he has had a long streak of decisions, he is known for outboxing in cases. His style has incorporated more speed and directional aptitude in recent fights. Team JDM has also dismissed the mammoth odds, saying Islam Makhachev lacks the chin Belal has shown in fights.

Jack Della Maddalena’s coach says Islam Makhachev does not have a hard chin like Belal Muhammad

Jack Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) is on a mammoth 18-fight MMA winning streak since EMMA: Eternal MMA 20. He has a strong and comfortable switch-stance standup that has produced 12 KOs in his 18 pro wins.

But that is not why Ben Vickers ranks his fighter above Islam Makhachev, despite what he thinks are questionable odds to place the rival as a sizable favorite. The Team Scrappy MMA coach saw JDM keep the fight as a standup for most part and go the 25-minute stretch with Muhammad.

But “Bully Belal” is a different kind of fighter. Even Khabib Nurmagomedov has said it is very tough to plan for Muhammad, given that it is equally tough to keep him down or deter his pressure for 25 minutes. During UFC 304 “Embedded”: Vlog Series, Muhammad and his striking coach, Horacio Gutierrez, also extensively laid out how they have been working on speed and striking absorption, to go with his cardio.

Vickers doesn’t think Islam Makhachev has been training those kinks out or can take as much damage as Muhammad.

I just don’t think Islam has the chin that Belal [has] got…We know for a fact that if Jack clips someone clean on the chin, they can go over. So it could happen in the first minute, it could happen in the 24th minute…[maybe] could be three rounds in…Belal’s reputedly like the best cardio in the UFC – and Jack out-cardio’d him. Belal was more tired than Jack toward the end of the fight. Jack’s cardio is exceptional – so I like the fight [against Islam].

Ben Vickers to Denis Shkuratov for the ‘Submission Radio’ Show (🎥: @SubmissionRadio on YT)

Vickers ripped the assertion that Muhammad’s defeat to Della Maddalena stemmed from his decision to engage in a standup and not implement his wrestling strategy. The coach just highlighted that Jack Della Maddalena’s cardio is just that much good, and even though he was more tired in the later frames, the title challenger won. Vickers has promised an even better result against Makhachev.

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