Australian welterweight contender Jack Della Maddalena opened up about his recent experience competing Islam Makhachev during a training session with streamer N3on at his home gym in Perth. The conversation provided rare insight into what makes the lightweight champion so dominant inside the octagon.
When asked about Islam’s specialty following their encounter, Della Maddalena was clear about what posed the biggest challenge. “I mean, he’s.. obviously his wrestling’s good. He’s good. Like his top position’s good, right? He’s good at just holding people down, pinning. He’s like pinning. He’s really good at pinning people. And I got stuck there,” the Perth native explained.
Later in the stream, the conversation shifted toward Islam’s future, and a potential blockbuster matchup with Ilia Topuria. When N3on asked who he’d favor in that fight, Della Maddalena leaned toward the Dagestani champion, citing physicality as a major factor.
“Man, I don’t know. I think Islam,” Della Maddalena said. “Ilia is good. I just reckon the size would be a lot.”
N3on said that Makhachev has been bulking up, saying that he has been taking creatine to get bigger.
Della Maddalena agreed, noting how imposing Makhachev looked in person. “Yeah, he [Islam] looked big,” he said, before acknowledging the danger Topuria would bring. “But then again, Ilia is a heavy puncher. If he can keep it on the feet and land punches, it’d be a good fight. It needs to happen.”
During the casual training session, Della Maddalena also expressed his willingness to run things back with the champion. “Yeah, hopefully,” he responded when the topic of a potential rematch came up, before adding his strategy to get back into title contention. “Probably one more fight and then run that back. Yeah, that’d be the dream, mate.”
The Australian star revealed his preferred path back to a championship opportunity, expressing strong interest in facing Shavkat Rakhmonov. “That’s why I want to fight Shavkat because beating someone like him, you get thrown right back in there,” Della Maddalena said, acknowledging that a victory over the undefeated contender would fast-track his return to title contention.
While no matches are currently booked, Della Maddalena remains active at his longtime training facility in Perth, where he’s been training since he was 16 years old. “Nothing locked in. Just waiting,” he said about his fighting future, though he mentioned several potential opponents including Michael Morales and Carlos Prates.
