Fox Sports Australia can reveal 28-year-old \u2018Della\u2019 has signed a lucrative six-fight extension under the guidance of agent Tim Simpson, the same man who orchestrated Conor McGregor\u2019s $45 million boxing crossover.<\/p>\n
It comes as the new UFC welterweight champ now enters camp for one of the biggest first up title defences in Octagon history \u2013 a Madison Square Garden blockbuster with Islam Makhachev on November 16.<\/p>\n
Speaking with Fox Sports Australia this week, JDM admitted to not only being \u201csuper happy\u201d with the upgrade but ready to send Makhachev back to the UFC lightweight division in a headliner no less than Dana White has dubbed a \u201csuper fight\u201d.<\/p>\n
Currently on a tear of 18 straight wins, the West Australian has also responded to UFC great Khabib Nurmagomedov branding him the toughest challenge of Makhachev\u2019s own storied career.<\/p>\n
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Unthinkable only a year ago, Maddalena is now on the cusp of becoming Australia\u2019s highest paid combat superstar \u2013 joining a list that includes the likes of Alexander Volkanovski, Jai Opetaia and Tszyu brothers, Tim and Nikita.<\/p>\n
The champ confirmed his new deal was struck by fellow Perth boy Simpson, who has himself risen up to become one of the UFC\u2019s most influential agents thanks to a boutique stable — dubbed Chosen Advisory — which also boasts the likes of Israel Adesanya, Max Holloway, Leon Edwards and Jiri Prochazka.<\/p>\n
During his previous employment with Paradigm Sports, Simpson also played a key role in signing McGregor for his 2017 boxing blockbuster against Floyd Mayweather. <\/p>\n
AND NEW! Khamzat Destroys DDP | 02:59<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Tim is the man,\u201d JDM said this week. \u201cA genius.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve only just signed a new six-fight deal and couldn\u2019t be happier.<\/p>\n
\u201cInitially, you get a figure in your head that you hope might be met, then you send Tim to the negotiating table \u2026 and we get it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m super happy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would be one of the first champions to sign under the new Paramount deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s time to get the work done.\u201d<\/p>\n
As finally revealed by UFC boss Dana White last week, Maddalena is now set to join the small crew of Australians who have headlined the Garden including George Kambosos, Daniel Geale and ACDC.<\/p>\n
And after taking the UFC crown from Belal Muhammad in May, Australia\u2019s breakout star is now readying to score a New York boilover against Makhachev \u2013 aka, the UFC\u2019s No.1 fighter pound-for-pound.<\/p>\n
Before moving fulltime into preparations, JDM has spent a few days camping with his young family in Margaret River, his final break before diving into what will be a gruelling 10-week world title preparation.<\/p>\n
Certainly, Las Vegas bookmakers are well aware of the challenges ahead, opening \u2018Della\u2019 as the betting underdog against Makhachev, who only recently vacated the lightweight strap to move up and conquer a second division.<\/p>\n
Himself on a run of 15 straight wins, Makhachev has also finished 10 Octagon rivals, stopping the likes of Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira and Australia\u2019s Volkanovski — who he beat in consecutive title fights.<\/p>\n
Sportsbet also has Makhachev the $1.39 favourite, with Maddalena at $2.92.<\/p>\n
Yet despite the odds, Makhachev\u2019s legendary mentor, Nurmagomedov, has described the Australian as his prot\u00e9g\u00e9\u2019s toughest challenge yet.<\/p>\n
Jack Della Maddalena has signed a new deal. (Photo by Cooper Neill\/Zuffa LLC)Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Speaking recently, the UFC Hall of Famer branded JDM a tougher challenge for Makhachev than even the man who now holds his old UFC lightweight crown \u2013 Ilia Topuria.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Maddalena is the toughest opponent in Islam\u2019s career,\u201d Nurmagomedov said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot Charles (Oliveira), no one else.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of those other fighters.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot even Ilia, if that fight were to happen. That\u2019s just my personal opinion\u201d.<\/p>\n
Pushed on his thoughts, Nurmagomedov continued: \u201cFirst of all, Maddalena is twice the size of Ilia.<\/p>\n
\u201cTaller, bigger, stronger legs, bigger frame.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis boxing is just as good and in grappling, he scrambles really well if you\u2019ve watched him.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor me, if I was preparing Islam for either Ilia or Maddalena, I\u2019d be more concerned about Maddalena.\u201d<\/p>\n
To which the champ says what?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually surreal,\u201d Maddalena said this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have one of the greatest fighters ever not only mention my name, but now working to try and beat me \u2026 it\u2019s crazy.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it also shows the challenge I have in front of me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019m not here to be a stepping stone for Islam Makhachev.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to knock him back down to lightweight and continue my reign.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neal ‘OUT COLD’ from spinning elbow | 01:22<\/p>\n
JDM quickly added however that he also expects a respectful build for what UFC boss Dana White has dubbed a November \u201csuper fight\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have all respect for Islam because what he\u2019s done is super impressive,\u201d the champ said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got no issues, and got nothing bad to say.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need to get in there and settle things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Better, Maddalena now looks to begin his new reign under a new deal that has him \u201cextremely happy\u201d.<\/p>\n
Ironically, the revelation comes only months after the West Australian was caught up in a bizarre \u2013 and, ultimately, incorrect \u2013 fundraising story drama.<\/p>\n
Prior to his huge title win over Muhammad at UFC 315, a story emerged suggesting JDM was fundraising at a Perth bar to try and ensure all his team would be able to also fly to Canada for the event.<\/p>\n
Almost immediately, social media lit up with fans complaining that Australia\u2019s rising star could be left strapped for cash.<\/p>\n
However, the story was then quickly shot down by JDM and his team, who stressed the event had been incorrectly advertised as a fundraiser by the venue — and was instead one of countless paid promotions undertaken by athletes. <\/p>\n
And now in recent days, the champ has secured a deal that is said to have put him up among fellow big earners like Volkanovski, Tim Tszyu and Opetaia. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jack Della Maddalena has become the first UFC champion to ink a new contract under the company\u2019s $7.7…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":113214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-113213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}