This past Saturday on the main card of UFC 284 we saw a highly anticipated welterweight matchup. Top prospect Jack Della Maddalena (14-2) took on his toughest test to date in Randy Brown (16-5).
To this point in his octagon career, Della Maddalena had run through the competition. Randy Brown was expected to be a very tough challenge for him. Brown’s length was going to be a problem that Della Maddalena needed to solve and in the opening minutes, Della Maddalena appeared to be gauging the range.
Randy Brown came out aggressive but maintaining distance. Sharp jabs and long kicks were keeping the Australian at the end of things. However, you got the sense that once Della Maddalena figured out the range, he would pounce.
That’s exactly what he did. Just about two minutes into the round, Della Maddalena closed the distance along the fence and landed a massive right to the jaw of Brown. Brown went crashing down and Della Maddalena pounced on him.
After a few shots on the ground, he locked up a rear naked choke for the big submission win at UFC 284.
Who is next after UFC 284?
With this win, Della Maddalena improved to 4-0 inside the octagon. What’s even more impressive is the fact that he hasn’t even seen a second round since making his octagon debut. He’s looked unstoppable and after this latest win, he officially finds himself in the UFC’s top 15 at 170 pounds.
So, with this win, who should be next for Jack Della Maddalena? I think there are a couple of options that the promotion could look at. One option I like is Neil Magny. Magny is ranked just a couple of spots ahead of Della Maddalena and always seems to be a good measuring stick for how good young fighters are.
We know Magny would have no issue in taking the fight. Another guy you could look at is Michel Pereira. Pereira was supposed to fight Sean Brady in March, but Brady is out of that bout with an injury. Perhaps the UFC sees if Della Maddalena would jump at that opportunity or whether they could put that fight together later in the spring.