UFC Vegas 77 has come and gone with Jack Della Maddalena getting his fifth win in a row in his UFC career as he won a split decision over short-notice newcomer Bassil Hafez in a fight that was too close for comfort.
Jack Della Maddalena continues his winning ways 📈 #UFCVegas77 pic.twitter.com/MzM3iz3f0W
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 16, 2023
Della Maddalena came in as the biggest favorite on the night and certainly didn't cover his price tag after narrowly defeating the short-notice newcomer. Bassil Hafez put on the performance of his career. Even with the loss his stock has gone up after a great performance. In the early going of this fight, Hafez gave Della Maddalena a ton of trouble with his grappling pressure, takedowns, and top control and even took the first round on all three scorecards.
From then on you can see a decrease in the ability of Hafez to keep up the same pace and pressure he had in round one. He failed on all six takedown attempts in round two and Della Maddalena seemed to be taking over landing the heavier shots and putting it on Hafez. Della Maddalena however, did exceed a late takedown after a failed guillotine attempt that Hafez ride out last the two minutes of round two in top control.
The third and final round is the round that Della Maddalena really showed what everyone expected him to look like in the early going. He was just blasting Hafez and really like he was going to get him out of there but Hafez showed that he's got a chin on him and he is tough as nails. We then get to the scorecards where the scorecards read 29-28, 29-28, and 28-29 in favor of Della Maddalena. After that hard-fought victory against a tough opponent, we take a look at what is next for the No. 14 ranked welterweight contender Jack Della Maddalena.
Sean Brady
This is the matchup that everyone wants to see and that didn't happen last weekend at UFC 290 due to an unforeseen trip to the hospital for Sean Brady that took him out of their scheduled fight. Della Maddalena has already campaigned to fight against Sean Brady at UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia and it would be a fantastic addition to the fight card.
Both Sean Brady and Della Maddalena are top 15 ranked contenders and they are both looking to take that next step toward a potential title shot in the welterweight division. A win for either fighter here could put them on the fast track to a title shot in the next year or so.
Neil Magny
Neil Magny is a fighter that will fight anyone anytime and that would be no exception if the UFC called for him to fight Della Maddalena. Magny has put his ranking on the line numerous times as a top-ranked welterweight competitor and he'd be willing to do that again against the super-tough Jack Della Maddalena.
The way that Magny fights he is never in a boring fight no matter who is fighting across from him and there are no shortage of exciting fights coming out of the Della Maddalena corner as well. This fight would also be a great test for Della Maddalena especially seeing him struggle a bit against a good grappler in Hafez. A fight between Magny and Della Maddalena is the right next step for both competitors as they attempt to move up in the welterweight rankings.
Gunnar Nelson
Gunnar Nelson would be yet another grappler on tap for the striking heavy Jack Della Maddalena. Nelson would be the most skilled submission artist that Maddalena would face as 14 of his 19 wins have come by submission. This would also be an exciting fight because Nelson really pushes a relentless pace that would make it difficult for even someone as skilled as Della Maddalena to be victorious.
Della Maddalena is a fighter that is willing to fight anyone at any given time on any date with a full camp or even on short notice as we saw when he had to get ready for three different opponents in just a week's time. It would serve him well to go to his team and draw out the right plan to move forward with and get enough time in camp so that is fresh and ready to put it on his next opponent. No matter who that next opponent will be, we know that Della Maddalena will put on a show for the fight fans in hopes of getting the win and moving one step closer to a potential title shot in the future.
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