Mailbag: What happened to Jack Della Maddalena?

Jack Della Maddalena is very good at fighting. But he was probably never “the best” guy in the division; he just happened to get a title shot and had a good day in the office. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But as his level of competition improved, his performances fell off, with the lone outlier being the Belal Muhammad fight, and even at the time, people felt Belal threw that one away with bad strategy.

I also think we don’t need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Della Maddalena is still a young man, and these two losses came against uniquely bad stylistic matchups for him. Makhachev is the best fighter of this generation, so no shame in losing there, and Carlos Prates is enormous and well-suited to attack Della Maddalena’s weaknesses on the feet. If you put Della Maddalena in against any of the other top welterweights, he certainly has a chance to win.

But I also have some concerns about Della Maddalena’s ability to fight from behind. Plenty of fighters can succeed as the hammer, but being able to overcome being the nail and win is a skill that every championship-level fighter needs. Things won’t always be smooth sailing, and you have to be able to battle back from that. For two fights in a row, Della Maddalena has run out of ideas early and not shown any ability to adapt and overcome. That is concerning, especially because against Makhachev, he allegedly failed to follow their game plan, and I suspect that might be true of the Prates fight as well. If JDM is in his own head, this could be a Rose Namajunas situation, which is tough.

Islam Makhachev

Would it be dangerous for Islam to stand with Prates at all?

Uhh, duh?

Look, Makhachev is a good striker, much better than people give him credit for, honestly, but he’s giving up major size and power to Prates. Should those two ever fight, Makhachev will Makhachev him: limit striking exchanges to those where he is in control and safe, transition to takedowns, dominate positionally, and attempt to find a submission.

Makhachev by Unanimous Decision (50-45 x3)

Thunderstorm

Over/Under on a thunderstorm ruining UFC Freedom 250?

In case you somehow missed it, Dana White said that the only thing that could delay the fights for UFC White House would be a thunderstorm, and that makes sense. It’s an outdoor event, and there’s really no way to account for that sort of thing with something like this.

But, uh, June is the start of hurricane season, and with D.C. being on the East Coast, that does bring weather into play. In fact, the long-range almanac says to expect some storm activity across the first few weeks of June, so it’s definitely a non-zero chance that something crops up.

I’d put it at 10 percent, but man, that would be objectively hilarious if the UFC goes to all this trouble and then has to move the event to the Capital One Arena because an early hurricane came rolling through.

Deep Dives

What fighter do you recommend others to do a deep dive on?

Once upon a time, I had a podcast on this fine website called DAMN! They Were Good, where all we did was deep dives on our favorite fighters. It was awesome. You should check them out, here.

But if you’re looking for specific options, I always like to suggest Genki Sudo, because the man has lived an astonishingly full life. But if you’re just looking for a deep dive into some sick fights, Robbie Lawler is never the wrong answer.

Thanks for reading, and thank you to everyone who sent in tweets (Xs?)! Do you have any burning questions about things at least somewhat related to combat sports? Then you’re in luck, because you can send your tweets to me,@JedKMeshew, and I will answer my favorite ones! Doesn’t matter if they’re topical or insane, just so long as they are good. Thanks again, and see y’all next week.