Newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena recently addressed the potential timeline for a superfight against the lightweight king, Islam Makhachev.
Speaking at a press conference, Della Maddalena weighed in on the prospect of Makhachev moving up in weight to challenge for the welterweight title. “I don’t think anyone would mind if Islam gets a title shot [at welterweight],” he commented. Acknowledging the potential disruption, he added, “I’m sure for Shavkat [Rakhmonov], it’s an annoying situation, but that’s the essence of double championship — it obviously confuses the division. So, this shouldn’t happen all the time, but in Islam’s case, I think it makes sense.”
Della Maddalena emphasized the need to keep the division active: “We need to move the division forward. I hope that eight weeks after this fight, we will see a new title fight in the welterweight division.”
These remarks come shortly after Della Maddalena`s impressive performance at UFC 315 in Montreal, Canada, on May 11th, where he defeated Belal Muhammad in the main event to claim the welterweight championship.