Jack Della Maddalena picked up the biggest win of his career this Saturday at UFC 299, finishing Gilbert Burns late on in round three of their welterweight bout.
The first two rounds didn’t go entirely Della Maddalena’s way, as the Brazilian, Burns, had some good moments of success with his elite-level grappling.
Despite that, the 27-year-old Aussie kept his focus in the fight and had his own moments of success in the standup exchanges. Going into the final round, Eliseo Rodriguez and Christopher Lee both had Burns two rounds up on their scorecards, meaning Della Maddalena needed a finish in the final five minutes.
The first half of round three didn’t go Della Maddalena’s way as ‘Durinho’ Burns once again got the fight to the mat where he continued hunting his submissions.
With just over a minute and a half left of the fight, the 27-year-old did well to scramble out of the position and made it back to his feet knowing he needed a last-gasp finish.
As Burns level changed looking for another takedown, Della Maddalena landed a perfectly timed knee up the middle, wobbling Burns and subsequently dropping him to his backside. The Australian prospect followed the former title challenger down to the mat and landed hellacious ground-and-pound.
Dan Miragliotta had seen enough and spared Gilbert Burns any more unnecessary damage.
Jack Della Maddalena calls out fellow prospect
In his Octagon interview with Joe Rogan, Della Maddalena admitted his plan coming into the fight and came locked and loaded with a name he wants to face off with next.
“It feels good, my plan was to come in here grab the cash, and dash.
“There’s some scary people in this division and I’m the f*****g scariest. Shavkat Rakhmonov I think me and you could have a hell of a title eliminator, one of the best in the business, let’s go.” Jack added.
Shavkat Rakhmonov is currently undefeated at 18-0 and holds impressive wins over Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, Geoff Neal, and many others.
Della Maddalena is on a seven-fight win streak and is likely one more win away from a welterweight title shot.