Morning Report: Jack Della Maddalena out to ‘prove a point’ against Leon Edwards at UFC London

Jack Della Maddalena is ready to get back in the cage and earn a title shot.

Joining the UFC in 2022, “JDM” quickly made a name for himself in the welterweight division, scoring three first-round knockouts and three performance bonuses in his first year in the promotion. Della Maddalena continued to build on that momentum, racking up three more wins and moving into the Top 5 in the welterweight division with a win over Gilbert Burns last March. However, some of that momentum has been stymied as Della Maddalena has not competed since then, and speaking with Ariel Helwani on Wednesday, he explained why he’s been out of action for so long.

“I just left the fight with a broken arm so I got back to Perth straight after the fight and had surgery,” Della Maddalena said. “The surgeon said that’s the best way to go about it. It was pretty much just meant to be an easy surgery. It was just a snapped ulna, put a plate in, but after the surgery it became infected.”

All in all, Della Maddalena said he had to have four surgeries on his broken arm and to address the ensuing infection, which kept him out of action for months. Finally healed up, Della Maddalena is now set to fight former welterweight champion Leon Edwards in the main event of UFC London on March 22. It’s a big opportunity for the rising contender and one he wants to make use of to ensure his next fight is for the belt.

“I think their plan is to make this sort of a title contention fight, but I guess they never lock anything in,” Della Maddalena said. “I think it’s very much performance-based as well, in my opinion. I think if I go in there and have a close split decision over Leon and someone else has a big performance, they might put them in front of me. …

“I want to go in there and prove a point. Prove a point that I can do to Leon what Belal couldn’t do.”

Belal Muhammad took the welterweight title from Edwards in their fight at UFC 304 in July. He was then supposed to face the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310 this past December, but withdrew from the bout due to injury. Instead, Rakhmonov defeated Ian Machado Garry to retain his title shot, and it’s expected that Muhammad and Rakhmonov will finally meet sometime this year. And when they do meet, Della Maddalena believes it’s Muhammad who will retain the title and who he’ll fight next.

“It’s an interesting fight. I’m not sure. I think Shavkat will get him,” Della Maddalena said. “I think maybe too aggressive, too much finishing ability. But then even in his last fight, he didn’t really show that side of his fighting style, so I’m not sure. I think maybe the wrestling, it might stay on the feet. The wrestling might counteract each other and then I think Belal might get him to be honest.

“I think Belal, he has an awkward style and he might just be able to. I think Belal actually might beat him. And that’s just based on Shavkat’s last performance. I know it’s hard because Garry is a tall striker so it’s a different sort of matchup, but I think Belal does have a good chance to beat Shavkat.”

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Listening to JDM talk about his multiple surgeries is reason 8,000 why I don’t want to be a fighter. That sounds miserable. — Meshew

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