The main event is set, and the fighters are ready to battle it out in the Octagon as the UFC will witness Belal Muhammad‘s first title defense against the dangerous Australian striker Jack Della Maddalena. How will their clash go? It is a mystery for everyone right now. But as both the fighters are preparing to be at their absolute best, the challenger, it seems, has his eyes on more than just the battle.
Do you remember the controversial ending of the UFC 284 main event? When Islam Makhachev beat Alexander Volkanovski by unanimous decision, a majority of the MMA community took the internet, claiming Volkanovski was the actual victor of the fight, questioning the judges’ credibility. The two-time UFC featherweight champion, Volkanovski, had the crowd and many veterans convinced with his performance, that he beat Makhachev even if the judges didn’t say so.
His fellow countryman, Jack Della Maddalena, is a huge admirer of ‘The Great’. And as he sat down with the podcaster Mark Bouris, Maddalena talked about the UFC 284 controversy and said, “That was inspiring. The Dagestani wrestler—nobody could really mess with him; if he gets you down, it’s over. And Volk was just having a great old time. The last round finished with Islam on his back, just absolutely wailing on him.”
“I think Islam had done his work for the day and he clocked out. Volk was still going on, yeah. We just needed 20 seconds. I thought Volk won. I don’t know if it was the crowd, but yeah, it was inspiring, seeing like a Aussie legend like Volk stepping up a weight class above against the pound-for-pound best and putting on an absolute killer of a performance. That was inspiring.”, ‘JDM’ added.
In the interview, Maddalena claimed that Islam Makhachev was ‘clocked out’ while Alexander Volkanovski was still ready to go, and he just needed 20 more seconds to win the fight. Indeed, throughout the fight and across the Octagon, Volk did land himself a few big moments, which had the community calling him the victor. For an event so far back in the past, Maddalena’s contribution to the debate has surely re-ignited it.
‘We just needed another 20 seconds’: Jack Della says Volk was about to finish Islam
“That was inspiring. The Dagestani wrestler—nobody could really mess with him; if he gets you down, it’s over. And Volk was just having a great old time. The last round finished with Islam on… pic.twitter.com/G7pfN9yJqb
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) May 6, 2025
But what did the other veterans have to say on the issue? Surely for a debate so long, there had to be multiple contributors to it. Let’s read further to find out.
Islam Makhachev vs Alexander Volkanovski 1 – Victory for none, a mystery for many
How big of a victory can one have if one cannot win over the fans with one’s performance? This is the feeling Islam must feel every time he looks back at his first encounter with Volkanovski. If not him, then the community made sure he doesn’t feel like the winner of the fight. UFC legend Nate Diaz didn’t hesitate once before dropping a brutal statement saying: “Yeah right Islam got his ass whooped” as Marlon Vera joined him saying: “I thought Volk won.”
If fighters weren’t enough, many of the veterans were unhappy with the decision as well. UFC’s legendary commentator Joe Rogan weighed in his thoughts in favor of Volk, saying: “He lost that fight, I believe.” While the ‘Bad Guy’ Chael Sonnen was absolutely enraged by the outcome, calling out the judges, he said: “What I begrudge is the lack of courage that [the judges] showed by giving Islam [Makhachev] the fight, and not doing what we have an industry standard of doing in giving [the decision] to the hometown guy.” Highlighting an issue many called out the UFC for across events, leading to controversial outcomes.
Even one of the most loyal and important personalities of the UFC, the former two-division (heavyweight and light-heavyweight) champion and now a commentator, Daniel Cormier too, could not resist talking about the judges and their unbelievable score for the Makhachev vs Volkanovski fight. He said: “That [49-46] was a bad scorecard. 3-2 [to Makhachev] Volk lost nothing tonight. He fought better than anyone thought he could.” If so many veterans can come to call out a decision like this, it surely means the disagreement was bigger than one could think, or perhaps it was the stakes of the fight that got to them, either way, its in the past.
Through all of this controversy, Makhachev did manage to get a proper victory over Volkanovski at UFC 294 when he knocked out ‘The Great’ in RD1 of the fight. However, since Volkanovski was stepping in on a mind-blowing 11 days of short notice, fans are still not convinced that their rivalry has its perfect ending just yet. But with times, agendas change, as so it did with the UFC, now Volk is back on the featherweight throne while Islam is eyeing the welterweight throne.
However, in this unpredictable world of MMA, anything is possible. And knowing Volk’s bravery he might show up to the welterweight division too. With that being said, in reality we may never see these titans collide again, and as we settle with this outcome, who do you think is the true winner of the rivalry? Let us know in the comments.
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