Jack Della Maddalena isn’t the most important fan of UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad’s fighting style.
Della Maddalena (17-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) challenges Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) for the welterweight title May 10 within the UFC 315 most important event (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
In what’s dubbed as a striker vs. grappler matchup on paper, Della Maddalena criticized Muhammad’s style but admitted it’s effective.
“It’s absolute confidence he’s got a boring fight style,” Della Maddalena told Fox Sports Australia. “He’s good at holding people down, getting victories, but fair play to him. (Georges St-Pierre) got some flack back within the day for being a boring style, and it’s simply because he’s higher than people across the board. He can hold down the strikers and outstrike the grapplers, that form of thing.
“So, we’ve got to offer him credit. I definitely think it’s a boring style, but I believe winning is clearly his No. 1 goal and fair play to him, but I feel like I can beat him. I’m a more dangerous fighter needless to say, and I believe I cannot only get the world title, but get the world title off a dominant finish with style points needless to say.”
Della Maddalena was taken down seven times and controlled for greater than five minutes in his come-from-behind knockout win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 299, which has resulted in oddsmakers pitting him as a moderate underdog.
“I got some practice with that against Gilbert Burns,” Della Maddalena said. “And I feel like within the three-round fight, I used to be capable of constantly get back to my feet and cook him. Like a good-old jiu-jitsu match, cook him after which get the finish later within the fight, and I feel like having five rounds I imagine shall be to my advantage. I imagine I’ll give you the chance to constantly get back to my feet and sting Belal. Having those extra two rounds to wreck him, I believe it really works well for me. I’m going to maintain pushing until the ultimate bell.”
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