Jack Della Maddalena fighting Khamzat Chimaev is not a ‘risk’ worth taking in the eyes of the Australian’s coach.
The UFC welterweight champion has a different kind of task when he faces former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev on November 15th in New York City.
A win in January against Renato Moicano signalled the end of the Russian’s time in the 155 lb division, as he now moves up 15 lbs to face the current best fighter in the division.
Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images
This jump in weight may make the difference in the bout, as Maddalena has stuck to the weight class since his third fight in 2016.
Jack Della Maddalena’s coach dismisses ‘risky’ Khamzat Chimaev fight as UFC announces Islam Makhachev bout
Although there is not much concern in Makhachev’s camp, with claims he looks bigger as the pound-for-pound fighter dares to be great.
Even during the build-up to this contest, one name is on every fighter’s mind in the organisation: Chimaev.
After ‘The Wolf’s’ UFC 319 dominating middleweight title win against Dricus Du Plessis, he is still seen as a potential welterweight title challenger.
However, coach Ben Vickers does not believe it is a fight worth considering for his fighter.
Speaking to Submission Radio, he said: “I don’t believe Khamzat can make welterweight.
“He’s proved that with the last time he tried to fight well, he missed (weight) by eight kilograms. So taking a fight with Khamzat has a lot of inherent risk just because he might not make the weight and then it’s not fair.”
His fight with Nate Diaz was cancelled when he missed the welterweight limit by over seven lbs in 2022.
Chimaev has not successfully made the 170 lb limit since his decision victory over Gilbert Burns in April of 2022.
Vickers did admit that Maddalena would not be opposed to a potential bout.
“Jack would love to fight Khamzat as well,” he said.
“But I think there are more prominent people who are in line who fight more regularly and deserve the shot more than Khamzat does.”
He picked out Shavkat Rakhmonov as one of the most deserving fighters alongside their next opponent, Makhachev, whom he described as a ‘legend’.
Jack Della Maddalena’s coach believes the Islam Makhachev fight could end in a knockout
The welterweight title win over Belal Muhammad in May was one of the best performances of his career, and his coach expects no different when facing the pound-for-pound fighter.
In the interview, he was asked whether he could see the fight ending inside the five-round championship distance.
“Yeah, I do. I just don’t think Islam has the chin that Belal has,” he claimed.
“We know for a fact that if Jack clips someone clean on the chin, they can go over. So it could happen in the first minute. It could happen in the 24th minute.”
Islam has only been knocked out once in his entire career when Adriano Martins caught him falling in with a looping overhand.
Since his only defeat, he has gone on to finish 10 of his 15 opponents inside the distance.