Jack Della Maddalena’s coach, Ben Vickers, believes the UFC 322 main event against Islam Makhachev could actually be easier than the fight that earned his fighter the welterweight title.
Della Maddalena will defend his belt against the dominant lightweight champion when Makhachev moves up to 170 pounds on Nov. 15 in New York. Despite Makhachev’s 14-fight win streak and four successful title defenses, Vickers sees favorable matchups for his fighter.
“I think it might actually be a bit easier than the Belal fight,” Vickers told Southern Cross Combat. “Belal’s more unorthodox and harder to cope with, whereas Islam’s more traditional. Obviously, he’s smaller and we don’t know how his cardio holds up at 170.”
Vickers acknowledged Makhachev’s elite grappling but pointed out that his submissions have mostly come against smaller opponents.
“Islam’s a much greater finishing threat,” Vickers said. “But Jack’s very hard to submit. If it’s not perfect, it’s not going to work.”
While Makhachev’s coach Javier Mendez recently warned that Della Maddalena should fear Islam’s striking, Vickers isn’t buying it.
“[Islam is] a good striker, but he’s still learning,” Vickers said. “He’s not as fluent or as comfortable there as he is with his grappling — and he’s definitely not on Jack’s level in striking.”
The UFC 322 superfight between Della Maddalena and Makhachev promises to be one of the biggest cross-divisional tests in recent memory — and Vickers sounds confident his fighter is ready for the challenge.
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