Islam Makhachev: Jack Della Maddalena plans to work with Alexander Volkanovski to prepare for Islam Makhachev clash

Newly minted UFC welterweight kingpin Jack Della Maddalena next has Islam Makhachev in his crosshairs and intends to enlist the services of someone quite familiar with the former UFC lightweight champion to prepare for the impending bout.

After securing a record amount of title defenses at 155 pounds, Makhachev has decided to move up and pursue welterweight gold.

The name Alexander Volkanovski came up during an interview that 'JDM' recently did with The West Sport. When offering up his assessment that Makhachev is a better version of Belal Muhammad while addressing if 'The Great,' who has fought Makhachev twice, will help in the lead up to this bout, Della Maddalena said:

"But yeah, he's [Makhachev's] the pound for pound number one, so it's a tough fight. But I guess we'll just watch all his fights again, make a solid gameplan, and then just start working at it. From pretty much now, I'm gonna start working on ways to beat him."

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He added:

"Different ways to get back to my feet, stuffing the takedown, but I'm pretty confident I can get this one down... Yeah, a hundred percent [on if he'll pick Volk's brain pre-fight]. I definitely plan; After the last two fights, I've spent a bit of time in Wollongong. So yeah, I think probably the first step, we'll go to Wollongong, talk to Volk, see what he reckons."

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Surging UFC star predicts Jack Della Maddalena will KO Islam Makhachev

Jack Della Maddalena taking on Islam Makhachev presents the potential for both to have a landmark achievement, with the former striving to make the all-important first title defense. Conversely, Makhachev yearns to enter that rarefied air of being a two-division UFC champion.

A surging UFC lightweight recently indicated that he does not have a pronounced level of faith that Makhachev will become a two-division UFC champion. In fact, Mauricio Ruffy thinks it will end inside the distance.

During an interview with Laerte Viana, Ruffy initially spoke about how impressed he was with the way Della Maddalena dethroned Belal Muhammad at UFC 315. When touching on his prediction of how 'JDM' will do against Makhachev, Ruffy said: