Jack Della Maddalena vows to ‘shock the world’ by knocking out undefeated phenom Shavkat Rakhmonov

Jack Della Maddalena and Shavkat Rakhmonov are both undefeated in the UFC.

Jack Della Maddalena vows to ‘shock the world’ by knocking out undefeated phenom Shavkat Rakhmonov

Jack Della Maddalena on Shavkat Rakhmanov (Image via Imago)

Jack Della Maddalena and Shavkat Rakhmanov are two of the top contenders in the UFC’s welterweight division. A potential fight between the two undefeated athletes has teased fans for a while now. Maddalena recently did an interview where he talked about what he thought about the matchup.

Jack Della Maddalena recently did an interview with Brett Okamoto from ESPN. There he talked about fighting Shavkat Rakhmanov and what he thinks the fight’s outcome would turn out to be. 

I think I finish him. I think I go in there and shock the world. A lot of people count me out, but I reckon I can spark him and then get the title shot.
Jack Della Maddalena via ESPN
YouTube video

Della Maddalena said he would “shock the world” against Rakhmonov who is the third-ranked contender at 170 pounds. Della Maddalena has been calling out Rakhmonov for a while now. This is because Maddalena considers Rakhmonov to be one of the toughest opponents in the division. If we compare their wins, Della Maddalena has eight consecutive wins in the UFC while Rakhmonov has six. A victory over Rakhmonov would put Della Maddalena in line for a title shot against Leon Edwards.

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Rakhmanov actually responded when Della Maddalena called him out at UFC 299. Rakhmonov wrote that he respected his courage and confidence but he will face the same fate as Rakhmanov’s previous opponents. An interesting thing about Rakhmonov is that his favorite food and animal are the same thing: Horse.

Who were the previous opponents of Jack Della Maddalena and Shavkat Rakhmanov?

Jack Della Maddalena’s most recent fight was against Gilbert Burns at UFC 299. They fought in Miami, Florida where Maddalena executed a perfect knee that knocked Burns out.

Shavkat Rakhmonov responds to the callout from Jack Della Maddalena 
Shavkat Rakhmonov responds to the callout from Jack Della Maddalena (via Imago)

Maddalena broke his forearm at UFC 299 during his fight against the Brazilian. His manager Tim Simpson revealed that the forearm was broken before the fight. The welterweight said he did not realize his arm was broken during the fight, but he did know it had been bruised. According to him, the adrenaline of the fight powered him through.

Shavkat Rakhmonov defeated Stephen Thompson with a rear-naked choke which made Thompson submit in the second round of UFC 296. The fight took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rakhmonov became the first person to submit Thompson in the UFC. The Kazakh too entered this fight with an injury.

He had a badly injured ankle that almost forced him to pull out of the fight. Rakhmanov tore a ligament in his ankle six weeks before the fight and was unable to kick, so he had to adjust his strategy accordingly. Della Maddalena’s win made him #5 on the UFC welterweight rankings. Meanwhile, Rakhmanov is already at #3.

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