Jack Della Maddalena ready to prove his worth at UFC 315

MONTREAL — Jack Della Maddalena can’t remember the last time he was angry outside the octagon. It’s rare inside it, too.

As he emerges from backstage prior to fights, placidly winding his way to the cutman’s mat, he almost looks bored. In any other setting, the Australian wouldn’t strike you as a cage fighter — if not for the cauliflower ears and crooked nose.

“I try not to be too mad at people,” Della Maddalena said stoically, peering out from beneath a camouflage hat at a downtown Montreal hotel. “I think staying calm is number one in the octagon. I think being angry can be to your own detriment. So, I just stay calm and try to pull the shots.”

That emotionless mettle ought to come in handy Saturday, when Della Maddalena walks out for what he describes as “the big one” — a welterweight title fight against champion Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 presented by Skilled Trades College. It’s a massive opportunity for a young striker in an old wrestler’s division that would’ve been hard to see coming only a couple years ago when Della Maddalena was taking split decisions over the Bassil Hafez’s and Kevin Holland’s of the world.

As skilled and tenacious as the 28-year-old’s proven himself to be, Saturday’s main event will be a considerable step up from the competition, pressure, and stakes he’s faced on a rapid rise through the division. His most notable win was his most recent one: a gutsy effort over Gilbert Burns — a late-30’s, past-his-prime warhorse — who broke Della Maddalena’s arm in the first round.

That Della Maddalena found a way to finish that fight two rounds later speaks to his toughness and heart. But that Burns was up 2-0 on two of three scorecards (the other had them tied) also speaks to how unlikely and at-times fortuitous his path to this moment has been.

Coming off the Contender Series in 2021, Della Maddalena strung together three first-round TKO’s against overmatched opposition in 2022 before dispatching a series of veterans — Randy Brown, Holland, Burns — and finding himself in the right place at the right time when an injured Shavkat Rakhmonov was unable to make this weekend’s card.

Rakhmonov, of course, had a fight with Muhammad fall through late last year after the champion suffered a bone infection in his foot. Rather than sit on his title shot, Rakhmonov chose to put it on the line against Ian Machado Garry, who he defeated in a grueling, five-round unanimous decision.

The UFC wanted to rebook Rakhmonov and Muhammad for this weekend. But with Rakhmonov sidelined due to a serious knee injury, a fill-in was required. Della Maddalena, only now returning from surgery to correct his broken arm, was booked against former champion Leon Edwards in March. But just a month out, the UFC pulled him from that date to give Muhammad an opponent this weekend.

It’s hard to ignore the serendipity of the situation. Say Della Maddalena didn’t shatter his arm against Burns, fought again in 2024, and lost or was injured then. Say he was the one to face Garry late last year instead of Rakhmonov. Is he still available and preferred for this title shot? Likely not.

“Yeah, it was good timing,” Della Maddalena said. “But I think if I hadn’t gotten the injury, my thoughts would have been that I’d be fighting for a title at a similar time. I think I would have had to fight one of the top guys later in the year. So, I believe it’s worked out the same. I’ve obviously missed a fight. Perfect world, I would have the fight beforehand. But I think the timeline, it works out well.”

No kidding. Della Maddalena’s essentially been fast tracked from working his way up the divisional ladder, straight past a No. 1 contender’s fight, over Rakhmonov and Garry, and into a title shot. He wandered his way into the intersection of ability and availability. He was ready when his opportunity came and jumped at it.

Of course, Muhammad sees it a bit differently. He calls Della Maddalena’s path “a shortcut.”

“He’s a good striker. He’s got a long streak going. I think he’s got heart. He doesn’t give up. He showed that in his last fight with a broken arm, he still pushed through,” Muhammad said. “But the difference is he’s never fought anybody like me. He’s never seen somebody like me. There’s levels to pressure. There’s levels to experience. And I’ve been in there with everybody. I had to take the long road to get here.”

There’s no arguing against that last statement. Comparatively to Della Maddalena, Muhammad’s path to the title was a multi-volume epic.

He made his name outside the UFC in the mid-2010’s by accepting tough matchups with dangerous opponents, bolstering an undefeated record with wins over future ranked UFC’er Chris Curtis and one-time World Series of Fighting champion Steve Carl. And the UFC did him no favours once he finally arrived, throwing Muhammad straight into challenging fights with up-and-comers Alan Jouban and Vicente Luque, which he lost.

But he went 11-1 with a no contest over his next baker’s dozen — an Edwards eye poke halted the pair’s first fight in 2021 — avenging the Luque loss in the process. Yet the UFC still wanted to see more, making Muhammad fight down against contender Sean Brady and Burns to push his record to 23-3. That’s the juncture when the undeniability of Muhammad’s resume overcame the hesitancy of a promotion that hardly disguises the divergent values it places on entertainment and merit.

To be fair, three-quarters of Muhammad’s UFC victories have come via decision. His highlight reel isn’t one of powerful knockouts and stylish finishes, but rather well-timed takedowns and tactical decision-making as he strategically ushers fights away from his opponent’s strong suits while exposing their weaknesses. You could argue that high fight IQ is one of the most valuable traits in the game. You can’t argue it’s the most sellable.

Yet Muhammad would argue his dominance ought to be. He’d argue he has that high IQ, and grappling prowess, and top-level boxing, and durability, and everything else, which is why he hasn’t lost in six years.

“I think everything about me is underrated,” Muhammad said. “People go in there and they assume stuff. But when they get into the cage with me, then they realize what it is. They realize what these hands do. They realize what this pressure does. It breaks everybody.”

For his part, Della Maddalena knows what Muhammad’s trying to do. We all know what Muhammad’s trying to do. Appy relentless pressure, force opponents back towards the fence, shoot a single- or double-leg, and chuck them to the mat. Strike for volume rather than power, in grimy, close-range exchanges rather than rangy, crisp snipes. There aren’t many secrets not yet on film when you’re a guy with 28 professional fights.

And you don’t have to be a tactical genius to anticipate Muhammad trying to drag this fight out as long as possible, banking a round or two early as he drags Della Maddalena towards unfamiliar terrain. The Australian’s never seen a fourth round in his career and the last time he went to the end of the third — his split decision win over Holland in 2023 — his output decreased round-by-round.

Now, it’s tough to fault a guy for finishing five of his seven UFC fights — four of them within the first round. Della Maddalena wouldn’t have his title shot if he wasn’t using his heavy striking to routinely take opponents out early. But that leaves significant swaths of his game — grappling, jiu-jitsu, clinch work, wrestling, cardio — untested and unproven.

That doesn’t mean they won’t hold up. Only that we haven’t seen them demonstrated yet. Hence, the tension in Saturday’s main event. Styles make fights. And positioning the experienced, grinding grappler against the green, aggressive striker is a classic.

“I think [Muhammad’s] bread and butter is pushing at a high pace, mixing it up, takedowns, striking,” Della Maddalena said. “He believes in his striking and obviously the fight’s going to start striking — so, I think he will test it out. But I think when he gets uncomfortable, or when he feels that the advantage might be leaning towards me, he’ll lean back to his bread and butter.”

We’ll see. Muhammad would counter that skills are secondary in this pay-per-view main event to big-fight experience. And it’s evident on which side that advantage lies.

But Della Maddalena’s seen championship preparation up close, having overlapped a portion of his fight camp with Alexander Volkanovski’s, as the fellow Australian was preparing to reclaim his featherweight title with a win over Diego Lopes at UFC 314. That exposed him to higher-level training partners, such as experienced kickboxer Brad Riddell and renowned grappler Craig Jones.

“It’s awesome watching Volk prepare for the big fights,” Della Maddalena said. “He’s obviously been in there for multiple world title fights. So, to be able to be in the room with him, see how he handles himself, see how he works, and then learning from him as a very experienced champion, it was beneficial for me for sure.”

Ultimately, Muhammad’s ranging from a -160 to -190 favourite this Saturday for a reason. We’ve seen his game work time and time again; we’ve seen him on this stage time and time again. He’s one of the most experienced fighters ever to make their first title defence.

But it’s hard to imagine Della Maddalena being rattled by anything. He’s approached fight week, and the excess demands that being a title challenger brings, as calmly as ever.

He’s seldom denigrated Muhammad. He’s simply said he believes he’s better. And all he needs is this chance to prove it. And prove he’s a product of more than good timing.

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