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Jack Della Maddalena got a big win at Noche UFC
UFC welterweight Jack Della Maddalena passed the biggest test of his relatively young Octagon career this past Saturday by taking a split decision win over Kevin Holland. That fight was the co-main event offering for Noche UFC.
The fight was as close as many had expected, with the Australian striker doing just enough on the feet (thanks largely to his impressive combination work) to win two of the three judges’ scorecards.
The win took ‘JDM’ to 6-0 in the UFC (16-2 overall). Prior to the Holland victory his best wins came against Randy Brown and Danny Roberts.
The win has also taken the 27-year-old up to 12th in the UFC welterweight division, one behind Ian Machado Garry (who also has a 6-0 record in the UFC’s welterweight division).
JDM discussed Kevin Holland’s in-fight chatter
After his win at Noche UFC, Jack Della Maddalena discussed the fight with Kevin Holland and explained why he felt he may have been a little off his game. Della Maddalena claimed that Holland’s in-fight chatter had quite the effect on him.
“I didn’t want to get involved, but it was hard not to,” said Della Maddalena when discussing the banter back and forth between Holland during the fight. “It was interesting. I’ve never fought someone who does that sort of thing.”
Della Maddalena said that Holland’s talking transformed the vibe of the fight and made it harder for him to lock in and go for a finish.
“He’s a likeable guy. I like to go in there with a killer instinct, but he’s talking and he’s kind of a likeable guy.”
What Della Maddalena described is hard to call trash talk. It sounded too positive for that. According to the Australian, Holland was telling him, in the moment, that this was a “fun fight” and that the pair should train together when Della Maddalena was back in the US.
When asked if he would take Holland up on the offer, Della Maddalena said “maybe”. Though, it was clear Della Maddalena wasn’t totally sold on the prospect and that he would have preferred to just fight Holland (not chat) and that he prefers to come to the US to just fight (not spar).
Della Maddalena said that, despite being thrown off by the “weird” talk coming from Holland, he felt he did enough to win the fight.
“I thought I was winning, I feel like I was pushing the pace, landing the heavier shots, but as soon as I heard split decision… you never know.”
Della Maddalena then said he’d like to get one more fight in before the end of the year and he doesn’t really care who it comes against.
One of the last questions Maddalena was asked came from a reporter who asked him to discuss fans who may have been ‘talking shit’ about his win over late replacement opponent Bassil Hafez in July. Maddalena didn’t let himself get drawn too deep into that conversation, but did parrot back the claim, thus creating the soundbite some were after.
“I don’t think you can shut everybody up, but I’m sure they will keep talking shit.”
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