Islam Makhachev admits he expected Jack Della Maddalena to show more resistance on the ground.
Makhachev (28-1 MMA, 17-1 UFC) dominated Della Maddalena for five rounds to claim the welterweight title at UFC 322 this past November. He took Della Maddalena down in all four of his attempts and had more than 19 minutes of control time.
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In his title-winning performance against Belal Muhammad, Della Maddalena (18-3 MMA, 8-1 UFC) showed off his ability to scramble back to his feet. However, against Makhachev, he had no answers.
“Before me, he fought Belal, who also has strong wrestling,” Makhachev said in a translated interview with Match TV (h/t Championship Rounds). “Belal was taking him down, and Maddalena was good at getting back up after takedowns. But he’d always get up using the same move, the same reversal.
“When I took him down and saw him try that same reversal on me, I was already prepared for it and defended it. That’s when I realized he had nothing else besides that move. I said to myself, ‘That’s it? You haven’t learned anything else? You don’t have any other skills to get back to your feet?’ That’s when I understood he was going to be there for a long time.”
Prior to claiming the UFC welterweight title, Makhachev had defended his lightweight title a division record four times. He has a plethora of 170-pound contenders from Michael Morales, to Ian Machado Garry, to Carlos Prates, and Kamaru Usman vying for a title shot.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Islam Makhachev surprised how easily he wrestled Jack Della Maddalena
