Jack Della Maddalena is hopeful of an Islam Makhachev rematch ahead of second title push

Jack Della Maddalena has described a second shot at Islam Makhachev as ‘the dream’.

Della Maddalena was beaten by Makhachev last November in the first defense of his welterweight title at UFC 322.

The defending champion lost all five rounds on the scorecards, as his challenger racked up over 19 minutes of control time with his wrestling.

Della Maddalena received some criticism for his performance in the fight after being unable to execute a game plan that made the bout competitive.

As he prepares to start his second run towards the belt, ‘JDM’ is hoping that he’ll get the opportunity to try and avenge this loss at some point.

Jack Della Maddalena is ready to face all the new contenders in pursuit of Islam Makhachev rematch

Jack Della Maddalena’s post-fight comments following his loss last November were complimentary of his opponent and to the point.

As a former champion, it won’t take long for ‘JDM’ to put himself back in the title picture, but the manner of his defeat to the current titleholder doesn’t make things simple for him.

Some believe that Ian Machado Garry is facing Islam Makhachev next, with the Russian expecting to make his return in the months following Ramadan.

Della Maddalena has said that he’s down to face Carlos Prates before sharing more thoughts on his current mentality in an interview with FightWave.

“My goal is obviously to go back and get the world title back and also to challenge myself against these guys, all those new contenders, really find out who the best is,” he said. “I believe I can reign supreme and I’d love to get the shot at Islam again, that’d be the dream.”

Della Maddalena went on to admit that Makhachev is moving on and is in a “different part of his career”, stating, “hopefully I can get to the point where he grants me the rematch.”

Jack Della Maddalena knows that getting back to the belt won’t be easy for him

While Jack Della Maddalena is confident that he can climb to the top of the welterweight division again, he knows that it won’t be easy.

Carlos Prates is the opponent that has been calling him out but there are several other names that could be one or two wins away from a title shot at 170 pounds.

‘JDM’ spoke about this during his interview with FightWave, explaining that it could come down to who is the better man on the night.

“We’re all going to have to bring our A-game come fight night because there’s a lot of people working hard to get the belt,” he said.