Islam Makhachev has revealed that he went through three separate training “camps” to prepare for Saturday’s fight with Jack Della Maddalena.
In the main event of UFC 322, at New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Makhachev will challenge “JDM” for the welterweight title, having vacated the lightweight belt earlier this year.
And in a bid to be as prepared as possible for his clash with the Australian, who has not lost in nine years, Makhachev broke his training into three distinct camps.
“I did like three camps,” the Russian, who is unbeaten in 10 years, told the Weighing In podcast on Monday. “One of them in Russia, one of them in Dubai, and the last one in New Jersey.
“First camp, I just focused [on doing] weights, to gain weight. I did like three weeks’ camp.
“After that, we moved to Dubai, and we did a lot of sparring, wrestling, more conditioning, you know?
“Now we’re in New Jersey, and I have my sparring partner who can do similar [techniques] to JDM. I have one of them, he has good boxing and also he defends very good [in] wrestling. His style is some[what] similar to JDM.
“Other guys, I have many, many guys […] who can give me good rounds.”
In January, Makhachev broke the record for most successful defences of the UFC lightweight title (4), outdoing his coach and childhood friend Khabib Nurmagomedov, who had achieved a joint-record (3) before retiring as champion in 2020.
Makhachev, 34, gave up the belt in May, the same month that Della Maddalena, 29, won the welterweight strap.
Della Maddalena outpointed Belal Muhammad to claim the gold, putting on a clinic in the striking department while thwarting the wrestling of Makhachev’s teammate.
Makhachev had vowed now to challenge for the welterweight belt while Muhammad was champion, but the latter’s defeat by JDM opened the door for Makhachev to move up a division.
The Russian’s final lightweight title defence came against Renato Moicano, who stepped in for the injured Arman Tsarukyan on one day’s notice in January.
Makhachev submitted Moicano in the first round, building on a successful title defence against Dustin Poirier and two against featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.
