This past Saturday in the main event of UFC 322, the welterweight title was on the line. Former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev (28-1) moved up and vacated his lightweight title to take on champion Jack Della Maddalena (18-3).
JDM defeated Belal Muhammad back in May to become champion and he did really well during the grappling exchanges in that fight. With so much time to train and coming off that performance, many believed that he could give Islam Makhachev some problems inside the octagon.
Boy, was everyone who thought that way wrong. From the opening bell, this fight was about as one-sided as it gets. Della Maddalena had no answer for the takedowns and control of Makhachev and even on the feet, Della Maddalena never landed anything of significance.
The only big strikes that were landed on the feet came from Makhachev who completely beat up the lead leg of JDM with leg kicks. After five rounds, it was a clear and dominant decision for the new UFC welterweight champ, Islam Makhachev.
What’s next after UFC 322?
This was a pretty brutal performance from JDM who just offered no resistance in this fight. Given how one-sided this loss was, it’s going to take a few good wins to justify another shot if Islam Makhachev stays on top at 170 pounds.
In terms of what’s next for Della Maddalena, I think the UFC should look at booking him against Sean Brady. Brady was right on the cusp of a title shot entering Saturday night, but he was viciously stopped by Michael Morales.
From a rankings perspective, that fight will make a lot of sense with the winner getting right back in the mix and the loser falling further down the stacked rankings at 170.
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