Newly-crowed welterweight champion, Jack Della Maddalena, is expected to make his first UFC title defense against former lightweight kingpin, Islam Makhachev, at one of the promotion’s upcoming pay-per-view (PPV) cards in the fall.
Makhachev surrendered his 155-pound strap (now up for grabs at this event) in his quest to become a two-division champion and could present a bigger challenger than Belal Muhammad, who fell to Maddalena on points at UFC 315.
But the Aussie may have an advantage during fight camp in the form of ex-featherweight titleholder Alex Volkanovski, who registered two championship title fights against Makhachev. First at UFC 284 and then again at UFC 294 (on short notice).
“I think Islam Makhachev is a better version of Belal,” Maddalena told The West Sport. “I think he’s striking on the feet is easier than Belal, because he’s more traditional style. But yeah, he’s a pound-for-pound No. 1, so it’s a tough fight. But we’ll watch all his fights again, make ourselves a solid game plan and just start working on it from, pretty much, now.”
Makhachev is 27-1 with 18 finishes and currently ranked No. 1 on the promotion’s pound-for-pound list. As for Maddalena, five years younger than Makhachev at 28, he stands at 18-2 with 12 knockouts and remains undefeated under the UFC banner.
“I’m going to start working on different ways to beat him, different ways to get back on my feet and stuffing the takedowns,” Maddalena continued. “But, I’m pretty confident I can get this one done. After the last two fights, I’ve spent a bit of my time in Wollongong. So yeah, I think, probably the first stop, we go to Wollongong, talk to Volk, see what he reckons.”
The promotion is expected to announce a date and venue in the coming weeks.
