Welterweight boogeyman named as Jack Della Maddalena’s biggest obstacle in UFC by coach

Jack Della Maddalena realized a childhood dream at UFC 315 by snatching the UFC welterweight title from Belal Muhammad in a five-round classic. Now that he's on top of the 170-pound mountain, a slew of new challengers await 'JDM'.

To his coach, Ben Vickers, there's only one welterweight that poses a real threat to his fighter - and he's undefeated with 10 submissions and 8 knockouts.

In an interview with Submission Radio on YouTube, Vickers was asked who is the biggest challenge to Jack Della Maddalena's freshly seated throne. While praising Shavkat Rakhmonov, he said:

"It's a good division right now, welterweight. Well, biggest challenge, I think, Jack smokes them all. Yeah.. I like the Shavkat [Rakhmonov] fight. You know, he's undefeated, he's never been beaten. So he's got to be the biggest challenge."

Get the latest updates on One Championship Rankings at Sportskeeda and more

Check out Ben Vickers' comments below (15:38):

At the moment, the most likely next challenger to Jack Della Maddalena's throne is Islam Makhachev, who already relinquished his UFC lightweight title to move up to welterweight.

The new Aussie champion already went on record to say that he welcomes a fight with Makhachev - to avenge his fellow Aussie Alexander Volkanovski.

Ian Machado Garry plans to step in if Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev negotiations fall through

One man who is eager to sink his teeth into the new champion is Ian Machado Garry, who is very much confident that he will "smoke" Della Maddalena. In a post-UFC 315 assessment video, 'The Future' expressed his surprise that a new champion was crowned that night in Canada.

After which, the Irishman suggested two new match-ups in light of the new title change: former champ Leon Edwards vs. Michael 'Venom' Page and Carlos Prates vs. Geoff Neal. He then mapped out his plans on taking over the division, if somehow negotiations with Makhachev's camp fall through:

"Now, you've got the new champion, Jack Della Maddalena.The Aussie. Great performance, but sloppy. Rumor is [UFC lightweight champ] Islam Makhachev is moving up to 170lbs. And if he does, then all of us welterweight will have to take a step back and give the man the respect he deserves. But if negotiations don't go so well, then you got a tall blonde, Irishman who's ready to take over the UFC and take that belt, and I will smoke Jack Della Maddalena."

Check out Ian Machado Garry's comments below:

Expand Tweet

About the author

Duane is an expert MMA writer at Sportskeeda with over 10 years of experience working for the likes of Philippine Star, Esquire Philippines, Playboy Philippines, etc. A major in English, he has written over 2000 articles for Sportskeeda section, extensively covering UFC and boxing fights.

Duane is a practicing MMA fighter with a 11-7 record. He is also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt and trains Muay Thai. His connection with MMA dates back to 2005, when he turned into a fan after watching Fedor Emelianenko defeat Mirko ‘Cro Cop’ Filipovic at Pride FC - Final Conflict 2005.

Emelianenko finds himself right at the top of Duane’s Mt. Rushmore of MMA fighters, alongside other big names like Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, and Anderson Silva.

Duane’s love for the sport is reflected in his writings, where he believes in speculating but not insinuating. He uses his intensive knowledge and skills in MMA to provide unique insights to the readers, along with sourcing information only from reliable sources.

Outside of work, Duane enjoys martial arts training, visual arts, film criticism, video games, and creative writing.

Know More

Follow One Championship News, Schedule & Results at Sportskeeda.

Edited by Tejas Rathi