Islam Makhachev will look to conquer a second weight class when he returns on November 15.
The former lightweight champion is set to challenge for the welterweight belt after making the decision to vacate his title and move up earlier this year.
Jack Della Maddalena’s team are confident that they can finish Makhachev due to a combination of the skill and physical advantages that they’ll bring to the table.
While the Australian champion was incredibly impressive in his latest outing, it’s not necessarily surprising to see him enter this fight as the underdog.
After Daniel Cormier argued why Makhachev is too big a favorite, a fellow UFC legend had a similar take on the early estimations for the main event of UFC 322.
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Michael Bisping suggests that oddsmakers might be overlooking Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322
Khabib Nurmagomedov has shown Jack Della Maddalena a lot of respect when claiming that he believes this will be Islam Makhachev’s toughest test.
While Makhachev has been one of the best fighters in the sport for some time now, Della Maddalena’s win over Belal Muhammad showed a lot of people what he is capable of.
UFC legend Michael Bisping pointed to this fight in particular when telling Bloody Elbow in an exclusive interview that he believes the odds are too heavily in the favor of the challenger.
“The crazy thing is that Islam Makhachev is quite a sizable favorite… I think that’s a little bit disrespectful to Jack Della Maddalena. The man’s on an 18-fight win streak, he just beat Belal Muhammad, he defended all the takedowns there, he’s beaten grapplers before in the past.
“Yes, Islam Makhachev is incredible, and he’d be another contender for pound-for-pound number one, greatest of all time, whatever you want to call it. But, Belal Muhammad was a perfect warm up fight.”
Della Maddalena has been an impressive striker throughout his UFC career, but earlier this year, he showed that he could beat one of the division’s top wrestlers and he did it in convincing fashion.
Bisping suggested that the odds for this fight might lead to some surprised reactions when the Octagon returns to Madison Square Garden.
“I understand why Islam is a slight favorite because he’s tried and tested and the greatest lightweight fighter that the sport has ever seen but don’t be surprised if Jack Della Maddalena gets it done.”
Jack Della Maddalena is no stranger to proving people wrong as the underdog
While there are some big questions for Islam Makhachev to answer at welterweight, when you look at his career next to Jack Della Maddalena’s, it’s not surprising that he’s the favorite.
That being said, this is a role that will more than suit the defending champion, who proved a lot of people wrong with his title-winning performance.
Former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley even recently claimed that Della Maddalena wouldn’t have been a top 10 fighter if the Australian was competing in the same era as him.
While there will always be criticisms and questions raised, ‘JDM’ is going to continue to subvert expectations if he gets his hand raised at UFC 322.