He may have been pushed back a week, but at least Jack Della Maddalena had a fight at UFC Vegas 77.
The welterweight prospect was originally scheduled to face Sean Brady at UFC 290 last weekend, and later Josiah Harrell. But when an MRI detected an abnormality with Harrell’s brain (moyamoya syndrome), JDM was left without a gig. Instead of heading home to Australia, however, Maddalena opted to stay in Vegas — and has landed a fight with newcomer Bassil Hafez.
Originally slotted on the prelims, the fight was later bumped up to co-main event status.
If the movie “Rocky” had an MMA equivalent, outside of fighting for a title, this may have been it. Bassil Hafez is well-known within the hardcore MMA fan circles, but the rest of the fanbase got a show tonight when he stepped in on short-notice against JDM.
For the first two round Hafez controlled JDM with a tough wrestling attack. The grappling prowess showed itself as JDM attempted guillotines when taken down, but Hafez was quick to pass guard, avoid getting caught in a closed guard, and get to side control to defend the choke attempt.
JDM had plenty of success in the fight on the feet clearly being superior on the feet than his opponent. When Hafez couldn’t keep him down JDM was able to land plenty of damage forcing Hafez to shoot over and over again to nullify the striking attack of the Australian.
In the third round both men made their case to win the round, and the fight, but ultimately the judges saw it Maddalena’s way. Another win for JDM, but a heck of a story for UFC newcomer Bassil Hafez who clearly captured fans attention with a gutsy performance and a whole lot of heart.
Official Result: Jack Della Maddalena def. Bassil Hafez via Split-Decision (29-28×3)
