Islam Makhachev’s Toughest Opponent Roped in to Destroy Welterweight Championship Dreams

Newly crowned welterweight champion talks about working with Alexander Volkanovski in order to fight Islam Makhachev.

Islam Makhachev’s Toughest Opponent Roped in to Destroy Welterweight Championship Dreams

Jack Della Maddalena plans to train with Alexander Volkanovski before fighting Islam Makhachev (via X)

After dominating most elite lightweight contenders, Islam Makhachev is now eyeing greater glory by moving up to the welterweight division. His decision follows Jack Della Maddalena’s ruthless dismantling of Belal Muhammad at UFC 315, shocking fans and fellow fighters. Now, with a second UFC belt in sight, Makhachev will face JDM, who is already planning for the battle.

Della Maddalena immediately agreed to fight Makhachev in order to avenge Alexander Volkanovski‘s back to back loses against the Dagestani. On top of that, beating the pound-for-pound number one will definitely help him boost his popularity and fight purse. While talking about the fight at The West Sport Show, Della Maddalena talked about visiting Volkanovski soon to get his insights.

After the last two fights, I’ve spent a bit of my time in Wollongong (Volkanovski’s homecity). So yeah, I think, probably the first stop – We go to Wollongong, talk to Volk, see what he reckons.

Volkanovski first challenged Makhachev at UFC 284, aiming to become the fourth male simultaneous double champion in UFC history. Fighting in front of his Australian home crowd, he lost via a controversial unanimous decision, but pushed Makhachev to his absolute limits.

The grueling five-round war showcased Volkanovski’s incredible grit and surprised fans with his outstanding wrestling defense against the dominant grappler. Ten months later at UFC 294, Volkanovski faced Makhachev again but was knocked out in the very first round.

Taking the fight on short notice while battling depression, Volkanovski still earned public sympathy for his courage and determination. Despite the loss, his first performance remained widely praised, with much credit given to BJJ expert and coach Craig Jones.

Jones has long criticized Dagestani wrestling and recently released a hilarious skit mocking Khabib’s team. He’s now collaborating with Della Maddalena, whose takedown defense clearly looked improved at UFC 315 thanks to Jones’ Jiu-Jitsu expertise. In the podcast, the newly crowned champion confirmed working with Jones before potentially facing Makhachev for the UFC welterweight title.

He has prepared for Islam twice, helped Volk out I believe, in that first fight to stifle Makhachev’s strong suit, which is the grappling. So, we’ll be using Craig again. So, yeah, he will be there to help us out for sure.

However, Makhachev and his coach, Javier Mendez, are confident about beating Della Maddalena and winning the second belt. According to Mendez, Makhachev is a way better version of Belal Muhammad and has better fight IQ to avoid mistakes. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see how the fights turn out after the octagon is closed.

Veteran believes UFC wasn’t hyped about Islam Makhachev’s double-champion status

Islam Makhachev didn’t want to vacate the lightweight belt as his original plan was to move up and become a double champion. However, UFC CEO Dana White announced that he has vacated the title, giving way to Charles Oliveira vs. Ilia Topuria for a vacant title fight. As a result, a narrative started against the pound-for-pound ace for allegedly running away from the Georgian-Spanish star.

Islam Makhachev's double-champion dreams were crushed by the UFC
Islam Makhachev’s double-champion dreams were crushed by the UFC (via X)

On top of that, many experts such as Paddy Pimblett, accused the UFC of unfair treatment towards Makhachev by forcing him to vacate the belt. UFC Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier recently spoke about this in detail on his show, The Good Guy/ Bad Guy Show. DC tried to compare Makhachev’s situation with former double champions, including himself.

It really does come to if the boss is excited about it. When Conor [McGregor] won that second belt, it made Dana super excited about the idea that guys could win two belts. So, when he came up to me and asked me about becoming the double champion, he was very excited. It doesn’t feel like super fights. Having a guy carrying a belt up to the next weight doesn’t resonate as strongly as it did back then.

On paper, Makhachev is the most decorated lightweight champion with four title defenses, more than anybody including Khabib Nurmagomedov. Despite not having the lightweight belt, winning the welterweight championship may boost Makhachev’s credentials as one of the GOATS.

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