A respectful rivalry between welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev still required Dana White to keep a close eye on things after the fighters competing in the UFC 322 main event refused to break eye contact during a tense faceoff on Thursday.
As the main event fighters took the stage after the pre-fight press conference at Madison Square Garden, Della Maddalena and Makhachev came nose-to-nose but there was no pushing or shoving.
Advertisement
Things got interesting when White told the fighters to face forward for a photo opportunity as he stepped out of the way.
But Della Maddalena and Makhachev just kept staring each other down without either one willing to look away, which required White to quickly jump back in between them to make sure there was no physical altercation.
Even when both fighters were handed title belts — technically Makhachev isn’t a champion any longer after relinquishing his lightweight title to move to welterweight — Della Maddalena just kept staring down the Russian with lasers in his eyes.
The fighters finally broke apart before turning to leave the stage following the tense staredown.
Advertisement
The fight serves as Della Maddalena’s first title defense after defeating Belal Muhammad to become champion back in May. The Australian slugger is undefeated in the UFC with an 18 fight win streak overall in his career.
As for Makhachev, he remains one of the most decorated fighters on the entire UFC roster after reigning over the lightweight division with four title defenses while he was champion. Now he takes a stab at welterweight with hopes of becoming just the 11th fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two different divisions.
