UFC boss breaks up tense face-off between the two fighters before their welterweight title bout at Madison Square Garden.
UFC boss Dana White had to separate a tense staredown between welterweight title holder Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev before their fight this weekend, as the defending champ pledged to beat the mixed martial arts “legend” to bring the belt home to Australia.
The fighters came nose-to-nose and refused to break eye contact during a face-off after their news conference on Thursday at Madison Square Garden, New York, where they will headline UFC 322 on Saturday night, eventually leading White to prise them apart.
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Della Maddalena (18-2) will mount his first title defence after beating Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision to become champion in May. The 29-year-old Australian is undefeated in the UFC and is now on an 18-fight win streak overall.
The 34-year-old Makhachev (27-1), who is regarded as a pound-for-pound great and is on a 15-win streak, vacated his lightweight belt to move up a weight class.
Della Maddalena was taciturn but appeared unfazed as he received a chorus of boos from the crowd at Thursday night’s news conference, with his Dagestani opponent the clear fan-favourite.
“This is what I got in this sport for – big challenges, big moments. I’m excited for the challenge and I’m looking forward to it,” Della Maddalena said.
“I’m going to bring this belt back home to Australia, no doubt,” he added.
“Obviously, Islam’s a legend. A big win over him would be a big name on the resume and it would definitely put me up on the pound-for-pound list.”
Makhachev said it was his “dream” to become a two-weight champion.
“I’m very close to my dream. All my professional career when I was lightweight champion, it’s my dream to become a double champion. Two more days,” he said.
Makhachev added that he would go 4-0 against Australian fighters – although he may have been lumping the New Zealander Dan Hooker in that list, as his only previous Aussie opponent was Alexander Volkanovski, who Makhachev beat twice.
“Australia, it’s a good place. I was there, I like it and now it’s 3-0, I will make it four,” he said.
Della Maddalena hit back by saying several Australian fighters were thriving in the UFC.
“I am very proud to be Australian, very proud to raise the Australian flag,” he said.
“Australia is very competitive, it has a fighting culture and that’s why we’re doing so well. We have two champions and after this weekend we will still have two champions.”
Although Della Maddalena and Makhachev are both well-rounded fighters, the Australian is renowned for his boxing while the Dagestani is famed for his ferocious ground game.
Makhachev smiled and said he “didn’t know” when asked if Della Maddalena was the best boxer in the UFC.
“Jack is one of the best, but I am also a good striker, so let’s see who is better,” he said.
Della Maddalena, meanwhile, told reporters he would “absolutely” be able to defend Makhachev’s takedown attempts for the entire fight, as he did so effectively in his victory over Muhammad.
“[I can do it for the] full 25 minutes,” he said, with a wry smile of his own.
