Four months on from his devastating defeat at the hands of Islam Makhachev at UFC 322, Jack Della Maddalena has the Russian welterweight champion in his sights once again.
Della Maddalena went down by unanimous decision to Makhachev in November last year, costing him his UFC welterweight title in the process.
But the defeat isn’t letting Della Maddalena give up on his dream of regaining the title, with the 29-year-old hopeful he can get another shot.
Della Maddalena will first have to go through Brazilian fighter Carlos Prates in May later this year, with the Aussie also admitting that he may require another couple of wins before he is put back in the cage with Makhachev.
“I probably would need two good finishes to get back in there against Islam. I think there’s too many good potential matchups in the division. That’s just me looking at it realistically,” he told The Sporting News.
“It all starts definitely with a good victory over Carlos, and then we’ll see what happens.
“In a perfect world, if I could get a clean victory over Carlos and then the UFC said, ‘We want to rebook the Islam fight,’ that’d be my dream.
“That’s the sort of match that if I could pick any fight in the world, [it] would be to get the rematch with Islam.”
While Della Maddalena may be set on greater things, he is not underestimating his upcoming opponent.
“I’m looking forward to the test,” he said.
“I feel like I’m better than him. I feel like I’m going to get on the front foot. I want to be able to damage him and I think I’m going to be able to take him out.
“I’ve got respect for him as a competitor and a person, this fight’s purely about competition.”
Della Maddalena and Prates will square off in Perth, Australia at RAC Arena on May 2 later this year.