Jack Della Maddalena is adjusting to the newfound fame, attention, and responsibility that comes with champion status in the UFC.
This comes after the recent UFC 315 pay-per-view in Montreal, Canada, where Della Maddalena upset Belal Muhammad to take the welterweight title.
The result marked the culmination of the Australian’s undefeated rise from UFC newcomer to champion, having moved to 8-0 in the promotion.
Now, the striking specialist will shift his focus to ensuring that his title reign is longer than Muhammad’s, which Della Maddalena ended in the Palestinian-American’s very first defense.
In regard to that, the new champ was recently sent some words of wisdom from a friendly face.
Robert Whittaker tells Jack Della Maddalena how to handle being UFC champion
Among those watching on with joy as Della Maddalena won the UFC title at welterweight was Robert Whittaker, a fellow Australian standout competing on MMA’s biggest stage.
Whittaker knows what it takes to not only reach the top, but sustain a presence there, having held UFC gold across 2017 and 2018 before remaining in the middleweight top five ever since.
With that in mind, ‘The Reaper’ is no doubt well placed to offer some advice as his compatriot embarks on a new journey — and he did just that during a recent appearance on Submission Radio.
“Everybody’s different. I think a big thing for me was re-establishing goals,” Whittaker said.
“That’s a huge one. It’s a big thing that a lot of champions — guys that reach the top of the game, guys that get the belt wrapped around their waist — struggle to do.
“They’ve worked and they’ve grinded all throughout their career to work their way up to the pinnacle of the sport. Then they achieve it and they’re kind of left in limbo, not knowing where the next goal is, what got them into the gym six days a week.
“I think having goals and goal-setting is super important for any champion,” Whittaker concluded.
Robert Whittaker wants to join Jack Della Maddalena as a reigning Australian champion
Though Whittaker’s own experience as a UFC champion is over six years in the past, the 34-year-old remains in pursuit of a second title reign.
‘The Reaper’ hasn’t competed for a belt since a defeat to Israel Adesanya in their 2022 rematch. Whittaker’s loss to the then-future champion Dricus du Plessis in a title eliminator briefly stalled his momentum.
And while consecutive wins over Paulo Costa and Ikram Aliskerov put the Australian back on the cusp of a title shot, a crushing submission setback to Khamzat Chimaev has once again left ‘Bobby Knuckles’ needing to bounce back.
If he is to keep his hopes of joining Della Maddalena and Alexander Volkanovski as reigning UFC champs from Down Under alive, Whittaker must beat Reinier de Ridder.
A clash between the two was recently announced as the main event of UFC Abu Dhabi on July 26.