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UFC boss breaks up tense face-off between the 2 fighters earlier than their welterweight title bout at Madison Sq. Backyard.
UFC boss Dana White needed to separate a tense staredown between welterweight title holder Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev earlier than their battle this weekend, because the defending champ pledged to beat the blended martial arts “legend” to convey the belt house to Australia.
The fighters got here nose-to-nose and refused to interrupt eye contact throughout a face-off after their information convention on Thursday at Madison Sq. Backyard, New York, the place they are going to headline UFC 322 on Saturday night time, ultimately main White to prise them aside.
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Della Maddalena (18-2) will mount his first title defence after beating Belal Muhammad by unanimous resolution to change into champion in Might. The 29-year-old Australian is undefeated within the UFC and is now on an 18-fight win streak total.
The 34-year-old Makhachev (27-1), who’s considered a pound-for-pound nice and is on a 15-win streak, vacated his light-weight belt to maneuver up a weight class.
Della Maddalena was taciturn however appeared unfazed as he acquired a refrain of boos from the group at Thursday night time’s information convention, together with his Dagestani opponent the clear fan-favourite.
“That is what I obtained on this sport for – massive challenges, massive moments. I’m excited for the problem and I’m wanting ahead to it,” Della Maddalena mentioned.
“I’m going to convey this belt again house to Australia, little doubt,” he added.
“Clearly, Islam’s a legend. An enormous win over him could be an enormous identify on the resume and it might positively put me up on the pound-for-pound checklist.”
Makhachev responded by saying he would go 4-0 towards Australian fighters – though he might have been lumping the New Zealander Dan Hooker in that checklist, as his solely earlier Aussie opponent was Alexander Volkanovski, who Makhachev beat twice.
“Australia, it’s a great place. I used to be there, I prefer it and now it’s 3-0, I’ll make it 4,” he mentioned.
Della Maddalena hit again by saying a number of Australian fighters had been thriving within the UFC.
“I’m very proud to be Australian, very proud to boost the Australian flag,” he mentioned.
“Australia could be very aggressive, it has a combating tradition and that’s why we’re doing so nicely. We now have two champions and after this weekend we’ll nonetheless have two champions.”
Though Della Maddalena and Makhachev are each well-rounded fighters, the Australian is famend for his boxing whereas the Dagestani is famed for his ferocious floor recreation.
Makhachev smiled and mentioned he “didn’t know” when requested if Della Maddalena was one of the best boxer within the UFC.
“Jack is likely one of the finest, however I’m additionally a great striker, so let’s see who is healthier,” he mentioned.
Della Maddalena, in the meantime, advised reporters he would “completely” be capable of defend Makhachev’s takedown makes an attempt for the whole battle, as he did so successfully in his victory over Muhammad.
“[I can do it for the] full 25 minutes,” he mentioned, with a wry smile of his personal.
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