Australia’s Della Maddalena impressed on Dana White’s Contender
Series in 2021, winning an entertaining decision over Ange Loosa,
and he has kept that momentum going since joining the UFC roster.
His Octagon debut in January was a bit of a layup, as extremely raw
newcomer Pete
Rodriguez was signed on late notice for a quick Della Maddalena
win, but the Aussie impressed greatly in his June victory over
Ramazan
Emeev. Faced with one of the welterweight division’s more
reliable neutralizers, Della Maddalena escaped some early grappling
trouble and closed the show with some body work halfway through the
first round. All in all, with diverse boxing and some solid skill
on the mat, Della Maddalena looks like the complete package as an
action fighter at the very least; it is just a matter of him
getting over the hump to contender status. His next test comes
against Roberts, who has had a consistently inconsistent UFC career
thus far. England’s “Hot Chocolate” is also a fighter who can do a
bit of everything, but Roberts has had trouble putting things all
together. He can look excellent against opponents below a certain
level, but fights against better competition have seen Roberts
either face some early trouble or eventually take himself out of
the fight. This should be a barnburner, and there is some intrigue
as to how Della Maddalena fares. He is more than willing to eat
offense to dish it out, and Roberts is by far the most dangerous
knockout threat he has faced to date. With that said, the
Australian does look fairly durable, and he should eventually find
something fight-ending given enough time. The pick is Della
Maddalena via second-round knockout.
UFC News & Features
