After winning the title last year, it’s time for Belal Muhammad to open his championship reign with his first defense. Originally, ‘Remember the Name’ was supposed to fight the 170 lbs boogeyman, Shavkat Rakhmonov, but that didn’t come to fruition. With ‘Nomad’ sidelined due to an injury, the title shot went to Jack Della Maddalena, who recently revealed that he had really struggled to get back inside the Octagon ahead of his UFC 315 return.
Jack Della Maddalena leveled up after his last fight, where he scored a TKO win over veteran Gilbert Burns. After recording two professional losses early on in his career, the Aussie star made sure to keep his UFC record squeaky clean and got past ‘Durinho’ during the final round of their fight at UFC 299. But that win came at a cost, and as you already know, Maddalena suffered an injury to his arm.
We all know that Gilbert Burns does not leave an inch for his opponents. After all, the man took undefeated star Khamzat Chimaev to the limit as ‘Borz’ would call the Brazilian a pretty “tough guy.” Jack Della Maddalena got the taste of the tough guy last year when he broke his arm. While he wasn’t sure what exactly led to his hand being broken, the 17-2 contender claims it might have been one of ‘Durinho’s kicks that shattered his hand.
“When the ref pulled me off, then it just started throbbing. It was pretty certain that my arm was broken. I think it must have been the kick [from Gilbert Burns],” Jack Della Maddalena told ‘betchaNZ’. The Aussie star then mentioned his struggles while nursing the injuries. The state of his arm was so bad that he had to undergo surgery after surgery, with his wife admitting that the situation was really “frustrating.”
Now, it was no longer about getting back inside the Octagon. It was a matter of getting Jack Della Maddalena’s arm back in good shape, and as he was dealing with this situation, the Perth native claims that he almost gave up. However, like a true warrior, the 28-year-old persevered and is now making his return this weekend in a title fight.
“Ten days after surgery, liquid was coming out of my wound. It stunk. The surgeon, he cut it open, and it just exploded. Pretty much the same thing happened three weeks later,” Jack Della Maddalena added. “There was definitely sometimes when i was like maybe I won’t be able to fight again. But what do you do? You just have to roll with it.”
Well, Jack Della Maddalena may not have expected to make a return after more than a year away from action in a title fight, but he did. And guess what? A fellow top contender wasn’t very happy when the news came out that he’ll be taking on Belal Muhammad. Let’s take a look at that front.
A top contender expresses dissatisfaction with Jack Della Maddalena’s title shot
Irish star Ian Garry put on a clinic after stepping in on short notice to take on Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310, who was supposed to fight Belal Muhammad. It was a pretty important fight for both, since their undefeated streaks and title aspirations were on the line. Even though Garry lost, he proved that he was indeed the real deal, taking ‘Nomad’ to the limit and almost submitting him.
After a performance like that, Ian Garry was disappointed that he could not take Shavkat Rakhmonov’s place to fight Belal Muhammad since the Kazakh star got injured. What was more disappointing to him was that Jack Della Maddalena got into the mix even when he was out due to his own injury for more than a year. ‘The Future’ didn’t think it was justified to give the Australian a title fight.
“The world title fight was meant to be Shavkat Rakhmonov taking on Belal Muhammad for the world title, but Shavkat, apparently, is out injured,” Garry stated in a video he posted on social media. “Now they’re pulling in a guy who hasn’t fought in a year because he’s had an operation on his forearm because he broke it in his last fight, hasn’t fought in a long time, hasn’t been active… So they’re giving it to Jack Della Maddalena to fight Belal Muhammad because I’m coming off a loss. That’s OK. I’ll get you all. You’re all mine.”
Well, the fight’s official, but Ian Garry did get his request to be the backup fighter for the UFC 315 headliner. This means that he could probably get a shot at the strap next. So, who do you think the Irishman will fight, Jack Della Maddalena or Belal Muhammad? Drop your comments below.
The post “I Won’t Be Able to Fight Again”- Jack Della Maddalena’s Injury and Surgery Details Revealed Before UFC 315 appeared first on EssentiallySports.