{"id":103709,"date":"2025-08-29T06:22:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T06:22:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/103709\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T06:22:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T06:22:13","slug":"stop-the-train-jack-della-maddalena-tipped-to-derail-islam-makhachevs-two-division-title-ambitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/103709\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Stop the train&#8217;: Jack Della Maddalena tipped to derail Islam Makhachev\u2019s two-division title ambitions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Jack Della Maddalena stunned fight fans packed inside Montreal\u2019s Bell Centre and, indeed, around the world when he battled to a gruelling unanimous decision victory over Belal Muhammad in May.<\/p>\n<p>The Western Australian was tipped by many to fall by the wayside under the constant pressure of the defending welterweight champion.<\/p>\n<p>However, Della Maddalena neutralised Muhammad\u2019s relentless forward forays as he claimed the title at UFC 315.<\/p>\n<p>The upset victory kept the Australian\u2019s unbeaten record inside the Octagon alive and swung open the cage doors for a monumental test during his first defence of the belt.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>MORE:\u00a0<a target=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sportingnews.com\/uk\/mma\/news\/ufc-322-jack-della-maddalena-islam-makhachev\/d8f3db5306355605ff13491b\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev confirmed for UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden<\/a><\/p>\n<p>JDM tipped to derail Islam Makhachev\u2019s two-division UFC title dreams<\/p>\n<p>Islam Makhachev had been eying up Muhammad as a potential opponent after he declared his intentions for moving up in weight classes.<\/p>\n<p>Yet the Dagestani was suddenly faced with a very different proposition, if he wanted to climb up and try and win the welterweight belt, after Della Maddalena\u2019s triumph.<\/p>\n<p>Former champion Robert Whittaker had backed his compatriot to get the job done against Muhammad.<\/p>\n<p>Once again, \u2018The Reaper\u2019 has voiced his support for the West Aussie to prevail against Makhachev as he attempts to defend his title for the first time in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Time to become a double champion <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/inshaAllah?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#inshaAllah<\/a><br \/>Let\u2019s go<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MAKHACHEVMMA\/status\/1921439326300164188?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">May 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think Jack has got a really good shot of stopping the train that is Islam Makhachev,&#8221; Whittaker told The Sporting News.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Jack\u2019s striking, his close range striking, is top-tier.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The angles on his strikes. He comes up and works the body a lot, which is a good place to strike when the guy just wants to wrestle.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Makhachev\u2019s trainer, the legendary Khabib Nurmagomedov, acknowledged prior to the fight being announced that Della Maddalena was the toughest potential opponent his best friend could face.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think Maddalena is the toughest opponent in Islam\u2019s career,&#8221; Nurmagomedov told <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=tloFQoy3ci0&amp;t=11s\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Hustle Show<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;None of those other fighters. Not even Ilia [Topuria], if that fight were to happen.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;First of all, Maddalena is twice the size of Ilia.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Taller, bigger, stronger legs, bigger frame. His boxing is just as good. And, in grappling, he scrambles really well if you\u2019ve watched him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>With the two now booked to face off for the welterweight strap in\u00a0New York City, intrigue abounds.<\/p>\n<p>And Whittaker will be one of many keenly watching the bout as Islam attempts to end the Aussie\u2019s reign at the top in just one fight.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Jack&#8217;s got a good mind for striking but he\u2019s also got that x-factor,&#8221; Whittaker added.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;He\u2019s got that x-factor that he can do it, so I\u2019m curious to see how Makhachev comes up.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>                        <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jack Della Maddalena stunned fight fans packed inside Montreal\u2019s Bell Centre and, indeed, around the world when he&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":42034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":["post-103709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}