Anaheim, CA — Promotional newcomer and Dana White’s Contender Series winner Jack Della Maddalena lived up to expectations in his debut at UFC 270.
Taking on Pete Rodriguez, a short-notice replacement and fellow debutant, Della Maddalena (11-2) took little time in dispatching his opponent. The TKO win came just a shade under three minutes into the opening round.
Despite his success, Australia’s Della Maddalena turned heads for a different reason Saturday, when he opted to forgo a touch of the gloves to start the welterweight affair.
“I just tend not to touch gloves, it’s not a disrespectful thing,” Della Maddalena explained backstage at the Honda Center in Anaheim. Told that the UFC broadcast team had mentioned the supposed snub on-air, the 25-year old added “all respect to Pete, just if we’re fighting, I don’t know what’s the point of going out there and touching gloves.”
In fact, Della Maddalena tried to show respect to his opponent by holding off on some extra strikes, after knocking Rodriguez down prior to the finish. The ref was having none of it, however. “I could see that it was probably game over, I went over, I was about to land a shot, I sort of gave the ref a chance,” noted Della Maddalena. “But I guess I’ve got to go until the ref pulls me off. He allowed me to land two more shots, and that’s what I had to do to get the win.”
Overall, he’s happy with his performance, Jack Della Maddalena told media outlets including Cageside Press. As to whether it was the master class he was hoping to put on, he’ll have to go back and take a look. “The win was obviously the most important thing, so getting the win was awesome. And then just I guess we’ll go back to the drawing board, see what we can improve for next time.”
Watch the full UFC 270 post-fight press scrum with Jack Della Maddalena above. More coverage from the event can be found below.
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Francis Ngannou
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Deiveson Figueiredo
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Ciryl Gane
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Brandon Moreno
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Michel Pereira
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Michael Morales
