Jack Della Maddalena faces Kevin Holland in Las Vegas this weekend at UFC Noche, so here, we take a deep dive into the Australian prospect.
UFC Noche takes place in Las Vegas on September 16th. The event is named in a tribute to Mexican independence day, a celebration which falls on the same date. The main event is of course headed up by the women’s flyweight champion and proud Mexican, Alexa Grasso as she aims to defend her title in an immediate rematch against Valentina Shevchenko.
Despite the co-main event not featuring a Mexican fighter, you can rest assured that we are in for a good old fashioned Mexican war. Australian prospect Jack Della Maddalena will face off against ‘Big Mouth’ himself in Kevin Holland.
These two men love to fight and the bout will no doubt be a top contender for ‘Fight of the Night’.
Jack Della Maddalena – The Uprising
Jack Della Maddalena’s MMA career started with back-to-back defeats and stoppage defeats at that. A loss in March 2016 was followed by another in May. Fast-forward to October of the same year and Jack Della Maddalena the prospect was born. ‘JDM’ came back from consecutive defeats to stop Brandt Cogill in the first round. Since then, he has finished 13 of his 15 opponents. The first of those points victories came against Ange Loosa, the man who just pieced up Rhys McKee for the first two and a half rounds in Paris. Before hanging on to survive a brave final round onslaught.
That win came in ‘Dana White’s Contender Series’ and swiftly earned ‘JDM’ a UFC contract. His official UFC debut ended with a TKO win in the first round. A trend that ‘JDM’ continued into his next two bouts, the last of which was an impressive victory over Danny Roberts.
At the beginning of this year, ‘JDM’ faced off against Randy Brown and again made light-work of his opponent. Another first round finish, this time by submission. Jack was then offered a step up in opponent in Sean Brady. Brady, himself had been on a tear, prior to a difficult TKO defeat at the hands of Belal Muhammad. It was an exciting matchup between two highly rated prospects until injury struck.
With the bout due to take place on July 8th, Brady announced his withdrawal from the contest stating an undisclosed injury. In a bid to keep ‘JDM’ on the card, the UFC replaced Brady with newcomer Josiah Harrell. The day before the contest, the replacement opponent was pulled from the card after his pre-fight medical diagnosed him with Moyamoya disease. With the UFC unable to find a replacement in the final hour ‘JDM’ was pulled from the card.
Bassil Hafez
Della Maddalena had insisted on remaining in Las Vegas to fight and the UFC granted him his wish. On July 15th, ‘JDM’ faced newcomer Bassil Hafez. Hafez was an unknown quantity and surprised many as he made ‘JDM’ look normal for the first time in a long time.
Many felt that Hafez had actually done enough to have his hand raised but it was ‘JDM’ who managed to scrape his way to victory. In the aftermath of his fight with Hafez, many fans and pundits have raised an eyebrow as to whether ‘JDM’ is actually ever going to become a top contender in the welterweight division.
So here’s my take. ‘JDM’ had prepared a full camp for Sean Brady. He didn’t get Sean Brady. He then had to have a mental shift for his new opponent Josiah Harrell just one week out. ‘JDM’ would then have been well into the process of cutting weight before being informed that his fight was off. On accepting that his fight on a huge PPV card was no longer an option, he had to again re-prepare to fight another unknown opponent at the Apex.
Yes, ‘JDM’ flattered to deceive against Hafez but when we consider the difficulties he faced within that two week period, to come away with his hand raised may have been an achievement in itself.
‘Big Mouth’ Vs ‘JDM’
What. A. Fight. Kevin Holland now appears to be taking his UFC career a little more seriously and seems to have found a home at 170lb. He looks strong, sharp and more dangerous than ever. Last time out, he eased his way to victory over Michael Chiesa in the first round in what had the potential to be a tricky stylistic matchup for Holland.
Now, if you were not already aware. Combat Sports UK have released a debut podcast episode this week where we reviewed UFC293 and previewed UFC Noche. In that podcast, you will hear me detail why I believe Kevin Holland wins this fight. You will hear me claim that I am leaning towards a final round stoppage for Kevin Holland. Well, guess what? This is one of those fights where…
I’ve changed my mind… And I will likely do so, several times before the fight starts. It is just that close. I had gone with ‘Big Mouth’ because I felt like, of late he has looked splendid at 170lb. That’s where I was leaning. Now, I’m not so sure. I may have been too distracted by ‘JDM’s last performance. I may have put too much emphasis onto that fight.
When you assess how those two weeks were for ‘JDM’, it is no surprise that he wasn’t at his best. One thing that we can absolutely count on here though, is that if Jack Della Maddalena is not at his best, he will come unstuck against a rejuvenated Kevin Holland.
I have picked this to be my fight of the night. I think we could see something really special here, whichever way this one goes. My only advice for fight night is this… Do. Not. Blink.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
