Jack Della Maddalena’s latest win marks a historic event in the UFC, as it is the first time two Australians hold a UFC belt. Fellow Aussie and featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski congratulated JDM on his victory.
Jack Della Maddalena put on a show against Belal Muhammad and won by unanimous decision at UFC 315. The fighter took Australia to a new level in world MMA as he became the third Australian champion in UFC history, following Alexander Volkanovski and Robert Whittaker. The win is a huge achievement not only for JDM but also for his fellow Australian counterparts. Volkanovski–who reclaimed his belt after defeating Diego Lopes– reached out to praise him for his performance.
“Jack Della gets it done. How good is that? Two belts back in Australia,” Volkanovski said on his YouTube channel. “Great fight, very fun fight. Very competitive. I think Jack—as soon as I heard 49-46, I thought that was Jack. If anyone was 49-46, it was Jack. Obviously, there were some close rounds. …
“Great boxing, great takedown defense. Even when he got taken down, he was never in a really bad position. There was one time in the fight where he was on the bottom. It’s weird with Jack Della. I was even trying to say [Muhammad] might get him down, but he’ll always eventually find his way up. It’s like sometimes he ends up down, ‘Oh, alright. Well done. Accept it a little bit, maybe give me 10, 20 seconds to get my breath back.’ And whenever he chooses to make something happen and get back to his feet, he can. If you go back and watch a few of his fights, you’ll see him doing that, and you saw that again tonight. Belal was able to get him in the pin, but when he chose, ‘Alright, I’m getting up,’ he just made space and got up.”
The bout was a fierce one, with Muhammad giving as good as he got, but in the end, Maddalena took home the belt.
“Credit to Belal,” Volkanovski said. “Belal was still standing his ground. Della was landing big shots, and Belal was eating them. So credit to Belal, he’s got a chin. I thought shots like that would have gotten him down, so you’ve got to give credit to Belal for eating them like he did.
“But Della, well done, my man. That’s an incredible victory. Massive win against a tough, well-rounded opponent like Belal. Incredible. Two belts to Australia. …
“Incredible. I’m buzzing. Very, very, very happy for Jack Della. That’s making history. Two belts in Australia right now. Two champions at the same time. Incredible. Jack Della, congratulations. Well done, my man.”
In addition to winning the UFC belt, Jack Della Maddalena, at 28 years old, reached the mark of 18 consecutive victories in his career.
