Belal Muhammad thinks Jack Della Maddalena should have sought out different training partners for UFC 322.
Della Maddalena (18-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) lost his welterweight title to Islam Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) by unanimous decision this past Saturday in New York, where he was controlled on the ground for over 19 minutes.
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Muhammad (24-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) is coming off a title loss to Della Maddalena at UFC 315, where he opted to predominantly stand with him before resorting to his wrestling. He lauds Makhachev for implementing the perfect game plan.
“Islam sometimes goes into fights and he wants to strike a little bit. He wants to brawl. But I think they did a good job of keeping him sticking to the strategy,” Muhammad told MMA Junkie. “He did a very smart job of hitting those calf kicks early. I think that played a huge role in it, and it really messed up Jack’s footwork.
“That was just an easy target for Islam to shoot and take him down. But I knew if it hits the ground, there wasn’t anything that Jack was going to be able to do to get up. Islam’s so good on top, and he’s very heavy.”
Della Maddalena prepared for his title fight with Craig Jones, who was also a pivotal part in Alexander Volkanovski’s camps against Makhachev. However, Muhammad says grappling Makhachev needs more specific training than that.
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“I just saw a similar guy,” Muhammad said of Makhachev. “I knew he was big enough for 170. I didn’t think he would be undersized or anything like that. Them guys, they’re all so strong. They all train with some monsters over there, so I don’t think that there would be a size that matters. I think it comes down to Jack not training with somebody from that region, right?
“You could train with Craig Jones, you could train with this jiu-jitsu guy, but the guys from Dagestan, the guys from there – (Dricus Du Plessis) felt the same thing with Khamzat (Chimaev). If you’ve never felt it, you don’t want your first knowing the feel in the cage with a referee in there.”
Muhammad will look to rebound from his title loss when he takes on Ian Machado Garry (16-1 MMA, 9-1 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 265 (ESPN+) co-main event at ABHA Arena in Doha, Qatar.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Belal Muhammad: Craig Jones no answer for Islam Makhachev
