Order Now with Main Event on Kayo Sports.<\/a><\/p>\nJack Della Maddalena of Australia fights Gilbert Burns.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Which is why after only a few months fixing typewriters and such, our teenage immigrant then asked his boss about opening a store himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Carlo,\u201d came the shocked reply, \u201cyou can\u2019t even speak f***ing English\u201d.<\/p>\n
So instead, and undeterred, our man went and found a map showing every office supply store in Australia.<\/p>\n
And noticing Darwin didn\u2019t have one \u2026 well, that\u2019s where he went.<\/p>\n
With that same business he initially opened up north having now morphed into CDM Australia — a global communication technology company of some 200 staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy grandfather\u2019s life, it was all hard work,\u201d Maddalena says, before also stressing the same of his own father Tony, the owner of a successful debt finance company.<\/p>\n
\u201cDad\u2019s always taken things seriously and expected the same from us boys. If Josh or I had a bad showing at rugby, if we missed tackles, weren\u2019t physical enough in a game, he\u2019d let us know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Josh agrees, explaining how the brothers\u2019 upbringing was all about winning \u2013 \u201cwe competed over everything we did\u201d \u2013 and when morphed with talent and fearlessness now provides the \u201cperfect storm\u201d responsible for one of the UFC\u2019s most exciting fighters.<\/p>\n
And for proof, consider that in his past seven fights Della has won six UFC bonuses.<\/p>\n
Or almost $460,000.<\/p>\n
A bounty built not only on his famed boxing-heavy style, or incredible cardio, but sneaky strong grappling and what Carlos Ulberg, himself on the cusp of a UFC title shot, calls \u201chands of stone\u201d.<\/p>\n
Others go further still.<\/p>\n
Take UFC cult favourite Tai Tuivasa, who hails his mate a \u201csick c*** who doesn\u2019t say much \u2026 but a scary dude\u201d.<\/p>\n
Which is no small claim \u2014 scaring a fella who skolls beer from the shoes of strangers, and only after both have hocked a loogie in it.<\/p>\n
‘For Volk’: JDM eyes finish in MSG | 01:53<\/p>\n
Of course, style wise, Maddalena is similarly unconventional.<\/p>\n
And as for him being underrated this Sunday? That\u2019s also nothing new.<\/p>\n
Just ask that high school classmate who, on sport day, Giacomo offered his sneakers to after the bloke had forgotten his.<\/p>\n
A schoolboy who, then next morning, not only failed to return said kicks, but suggested something about how he likely never would.<\/p>\n
So our chunky redhead, he beat the f*** out of him. <\/p>\n
Same as while he doesn\u2019t say much, Maddalena also owns one of the coldest UFC lines this year.<\/p>\n
With his press conference sledge about fellow UFC fighter Ian Machado Garry \u2013 \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s Ian\u2019s son\u201d \u2013 as cutting, and complex, as it was brief.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut there\u2019s people who think my brother is just some autistic guy who likes scrapping,\u201d Josh shrugs. \u201cHe\u2019s not. He\u2019s f***ing smart.\u201d<\/p>\n
Which is apparent in the way he wins.<\/p>\n
And why even Australia\u2019s top UFC exec Peter Kloczko is readying, with a victory Sunday, to immediately move his team towards making Della the megastar he has no interest in being.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Jack isn\u2019t only quintessentially Australian,\u201d Kloczko says, \u201cbut capable of becoming the biggest star of Australian sports\u201d.<\/p>\n
What about the fact he doesn\u2019t talk?<\/p>\n
\u201cDoesn\u2019t matter,\u201d Vickers says. \u201cWhen you fight like Jack, you don\u2019t need to shout on Instagram\u201d.<\/p>\n
Longtime Perth journalist Brett Bonetti agrees, reminding you how this is the rise of a fighter whose professional career was underway while the UFC, and cage fights generally, were still banned in WA.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo when nobody wanted a bar of the sport,\u201d Bonetti says proudly, \u201cJack was at the WA Italian Club, fighting out of a boxing ring\u201d.<\/p>\n
Which is a long way from not only Madison Square Garden, but that impending future overseen by Simpson, who also famously orchestrated Conor McGregor\u2019s $45 million boxing crossover. <\/p>\n
Jack Della Maddalena of Australia reacts after his submission victory over Randy Brown in 2023.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
But as for Jackie Three Names getting a gig on Roadhouse II?<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see him taking movie roles, no,\u201d Simpson grins. \u201cAnd are we even going to see him at the ESPYS with Jon Jones? I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if his personality allows that. Or even if he wants it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, some stories need telling, right?<\/p>\n
Just ask UFC flyweight prospect Cody Haddon.<\/p>\n
A fellow Perth boy who will never forget bumping into Jack only weeks after the welterweight\u2019s breakout win on Dana White\u2019s Contender Series. <\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I\u2019m trying to congratulate Jack,\u201d Haddon recalls, \u201cwhile he starts steering the conversation towards me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can still remember him saying how the UFC is all just the same s****. Same cage. Saying how it wasn\u2019t this big crazy thing everyone makes it out to be.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to congratulate him on signing with the UFC, and he\u2019s saying how possible it is for me to make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
And guess what?<\/p>\n
Make it, Haddon has.<\/p>\n
With the hyped UFC flyweight, this Sunday, walking into MSG on Maddalena\u2019s undercard.<\/p>\n
Which only adds to the wonderful uniqueness of a man who, when not beating up the world\u2019s toughest men, is at home with his family, at the beach with his family, or camping in a tent with his family.<\/p>\n
So how the bloody hell does that guy beat a Dagestani bogeyman? A UFC lightweight king who, having vacated that throne, is now moving up to overthrow another. <\/p>\n
Understanding that in Makhachev, you have a bearded warrior not only raised in toil, or at altitude, but who is now cornered by the mythical monster that is Nurmagomedov.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that whole Dagestani thing,\u201d Della shrugs, \u201cthe idea of them being unbeatable, I think it plays on the minds of rivals.<\/p>\n
‘You ain’t s**t’: UFC legend blasts fans | 00:37<\/p>\n
\u201cBreaks them even before the fight begins.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reminded there are also plenty tipping him to break, and the Aussie simply grins.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know,\u201d he says. \u201cThey think Islam does it easy\u201d.<\/p>\n
So when you win?<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that\u2019s when they\u2019ll all say \u2018Oh, Islam was only a lightweight anyway\u2019,\u201d he says, smiling now. \u201cThey\u2019ll say he was a lightweight who should never have moved up in the first place.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd because I already know that\u2019s what the narrative will be, I won\u2019t be worried or upset when it is. <\/p>\n
\u201cI actually think it\u2019s the best thing that can happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Really?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d Maddalena grins. \u201cThat way I can just disappear again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OK, so nobody wants this yarn written less than Jack Della Maddalena. But that\u2019s fine. \u201cBecause sometimes,\u201d his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[159205,2095,159183,64,63,689,159199,75315,145090,159200,159202,2742,159178,159204,2065,50184,29449,159177,159195,159203,159188,159175,159171,4736,112897,958,159186,159207,159189,159179,159174,786,159201,159206,30732,159184,56532,159187,11877,36099,159185,2504,145094,159172,61522,159196,159198,159197,20516,16639,785,938,159192,6778,1025,2782,2041,2067,677,46,159194,9207,28365,2111,114270,15809,159181,159182,159180,159190,85,159173,159176,159193,21195,6483,2614,159191,2835,9214,3439,114229,85398,10910],"class_list":["post-274186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-agent-jokes","tag-america","tag-aquinas-college","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-sports","tag-ben-vickers","tag-blockbuster-night","tag-blood-transfusion","tag-boxing-crossover","tag-boxing-ring","tag-brett-bonetti","tag-brother-upsetting","tag-canada","tag-carlo","tag-carlos-ulberg","tag-ceremonial-belt","tag-champ-shrugs","tag-champion-jack-della-maddalena","tag-chief-sparring-partner","tag-combat-sports-world","tag-communication-technology-company","tag-conor-mcgregor","tag-cult-favourite","tag-dana-white","tag-denan-kemp","tag-domestic-titles","tag-epic-upset-bid","tag-evel-knievel","tag-feature-story","tag-fighting","tag-fights-gilbert","tag-fixing-typewriters","tag-franco","tag-global-communication-technology","tag-ian-machado-garry","tag-italian-grandfather","tag-jon-jones","tag-knee-surgery","tag-legend-blasts","tag-lifts-lid","tag-lightweight-champ","tag-lightweight-king","tag-longtime-manager","tag-lovely-guy","tag-lowest-profile","tag-lucrative-contract-renewal","tag-madison-square-garden-lp","tag-michelle","tag-mma","tag-montreal","tag-movie-roles","tag-new-jersey","tag-new-york","tag-nick-walshaw","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-perth","tag-press-conference-sledge","tag-professional-career","tag-professional-fights","tag-quebec","tag-randy-brown","tag-ronda-rousey","tag-rugby-prodigy","tag-safety-blanket","tag-school-classmate","tag-skolls-beer","tag-sports","tag-submission-victory","tag-teenage-immigrant","tag-tim-simpson","tag-title-shot","tag-tony","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-wa-italian-club","tag-welterweight-strap","tag-welterweight-title","tag-western-australia","tag-young-children","tag-young-men","tag-young-son"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274186","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=274186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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