Jack Della Maddalena isn’t running from Saturday night. Instead, he’s owning it and promising to return even better after his one-sided loss to Islam Makhachev in the UFC 322 main event.
The former welterweight champion shared his first statement days after the defeat at Madison Square Garden, where Makhachev controlled the fight with four takedowns and more than 19 minutes of ground dominance. The performance made the Russian star the 11th fighter in UFC history to win belts in two divisions.
“Thanks to those always supporting,” Della Maddalena wrote on Instagram. “Islam is one of the greats and deserved to win. I will learn and move forward.”
While Della Maddalena displayed solid counter-wrestling in his title-winning performance against Belal Muhammad back in May, Saturday night was a very different story. Makhachev imposed his style early and often, keeping the Australian on his back for most of the 25-minute battle.
To Della Maddalena’s credit, he stayed calm under pressure. He escaped several submission attempts and avoided being finished, but he simply couldn’t create space to strike. He landed only 18 significant strikes, far from the 178 he put on Muhammad to capture the belt.
Losing the title hurts, but Della Maddalena has walked this road before. His career didn’t start with hype, it started with two straight losses.
“I lost my first fight and then went into another fight and had lost two fights,” Della Maddalena told MMA Fighting in 2022. “My coach wasn’t there the second time around but we spoke on the phone, we thought I was better than being an 0-2 fighter and we made that pact to get to 10-2.
“It seemed like a massive goal at that stage to get 10 wins in a row, but we just slowly worked at it and made it happen.”
He went on to win 18 straight fights, including eight in a row in the UFC, proving that adaptation and resilience are part of his DNA.
Now, after UFC 322, Della Maddalena is ready to rebuild again. The loss may have snapped his momentum, but it didn’t kill his hunger or his ability to make another run. His message was simple, but it carried the weight of a fighter who still believes in the long game.
“Thanks to those always supporting,” he wrote. “Islam is one of the greats and deserved to win. I will learn and move forward.”
Knowing Della Maddalena’s track record, that’s exactly what he’ll do.
