Australian UFC fighter Jack Della Maddalena has revealed he fought Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 with a broken arm and a staph infection, but still managed to win the match, and is now recovering and planning to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 305 in Perth.
Jack Della Maddalena’s UFC 299 journey? Oh boy, it was a rough one.
This Australian powerhouse has been pretty vocal about his broken arm. Happened during his March 9 fight with Gilbert Burns. And on a recent episode of The Grin Reapers podcast, he spilled some more beans.
Turns out, he was battling a staph infection right before the big fight. “I had staph just before we left,” said Della Maddalena.
His coach, Ben Vickers, chimed in too. “Let’s be real, you limped onto the plane with staph,” he said. “He was on antibiotics the Wednesday before fight week. We’ve got guys pulling out of fights two weeks out with staph. Jack? He was never gonna pull out. But we did lose a week of training.”
“Jack’s always ready,” Vickers continued. “So that’s not the end of the world. But the antibiotics? Always a wild card. You never know how they’ll affect your body. How you’ll bounce back. But you were good that week.”
Despite the setbacks, Della Maddalena pulled off a win against Burns. He landed a knee late in the third round and followed with several grounded elbows. This led to a stoppage and a much-needed victory. He entered Round 3 down on two of the judges’ scorecards, after all.
Did the staph infection affect him? Della Maddalena doesn’t think so. “We didn’t really train,” he admitted. “We just chilled for the first four days we were there. We just had the antibiotics and we were just cruising. Then on the Sunday I stopped taking the antibiotics and we did a little workout and I felt fine. You’ve just got to roll with it, because at the end of the day it’s only 15 minutes, just get in there and go. I feel like I can do a 15-minute fight on my worst day.”
As for his broken arm, he’s already had surgery. His recovery is on track. “I had surgery. … Went out, put a plate in, they did some tendon reattachment in my thumb.”
What’s next for Della Maddalena? He’s planning to be fight-ready in four months. Just in time for UFC’s return to Australia. UFC 305 is set to take place in Perth. And Della Maddalena has his sights set on the welterweight division’s boogeyman, Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Della Maddalena’s call-out is all about respect. He considers Rakhmonov one of his favorite fighters. And a win over the undefeated Kazakhstani fighter? That could catapult the winner to a title shot.
“It’s a fight I’ve wanted for a while,” Della Maddalena said. “I think the way it works out now, obviously Leon and Belal will fight, so then it’s sort of good timing, me and [Rakhmonov] could fight. … I like Shavkat’s style. I’ve always sort of wanted to fight Shavkat. I think he’s the best, and I think it’s a pretty challenging fight.”