Islam Makhachev questions Jack Della Maddalena after defeat

Islam Makhachev’s dominant win over Jack Della Maddalena was largely built around his wrestling, a clear strength that dictated the fight. But even when matched up with another striker in Carlos Prates, the former champion came off worse again, suffering a second consecutive defeat.

Makhachev, who faced Della Maddalena back in November, is well aware of what the Australian brings to the table but didn’t think he showed his usual form this time around.

“Of course I was watching it, I was watching it live. Apparently Maddalena could not collect himself,” Makhachev told Red Corner MMA. “Maybe he hasn’t fully recovered from the last defeat. He couldn’t find his range. I have studied his fights a lot before we fought. He gets close, changes levels and throws but this time around he just got close and took shots. Prates did an excellent job.”

Belal Muhammad had predicted that Prates would come out on top, picking up on something from Della Maddalena’s loss to Makhachev that gave him confidence in his prediction.

Della Maddalena is typically dangerous with short-range boxing exchanges, but ‘The Nightmare’ found multiple ways to deal with that threat.

Muhammad used leg kicks effectively from distance and landed several heavy knees when Della Maddalena closed the gap. And while the Australian usually thrives when he can string together combinations regularly, Prates ended up landing more than twice as many significant strikes (104 to 41) during their bout.