Las Vegas, NV — Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena knew the chit chat was coming, and it still threw him off just a little at Noche UFC.
JDM was paired up with the infamous Kevin Holland, who sports the nickname “Trailblazer” officially, and unofficially earned himself another moniker years ago: “Big Mouth.” Holland is known for talking to his opponents during fights, be it trash talk or just holding a conversation.
So what did Holland say to Maddalena, who went on to win a split decision on Saturday?
“He said things like ‘yeah this is a fun fight.’ He also said we should train at some point, ‘whenever you’re next in America,'” Maddalena (16-2) recalled. “I was just like ‘we’re fighting. Let’s go!'”
“It’s interesting. it’s weird. I’ve never felt it before. I knew it was coming and it still sort of flung me off a bit. Yeah, it’s weird. It sort of made it a bit more friendly, which I wasn’t— I want to take my opponent out. I tried.”
The welterweights certainly put on a solid show in the Noche UFC co-main event, and Maddalena remains unbeaten under the UFC banner through six fights. He rides a sixteen-fight win streak overall, having not lost since the first two fights of his professional career.
Asked whether he’d take Holland up on that training offer, “yeah maybe,” replied Maddalena. “I feel like I just come to America to fight, maybe not come to train, but maybe. I wouldn’t say no to having another [chance] to throw some punches at Kevin Holland.”
Looking to make his way up the rankings, the Australia welterweight is focused more on staying active than fighting a specific opponent next. “Just whoever. I want to fight before the end of the year,” said Maddalena when asked about what comes next. “I’ll fight whoever.”
Sean Brady, Vicente Luque, and Shavkat Rakhmonov were among the names suggested to Maddalena. He’d previously been linked to a fight with Brady, but is game for any and all.
“Honestly all of them. I’m not going to call any one of them out. The first one they offer me, I’ll probably just jump on it and say ‘let’s go.’ All those, they’re challenging fights and exciting match-ups.”
As far as missing out on last week’s UFC 293 in Sydney, Australia, Maddalena told Cageside Press following Noche UFC that “everything happens for a reason.” And as it turned out, he loved his Noche UFC experience. “It [Noche UFC] was an awesome experience, it just didn’t work out last week, but I loved it, yeah.”
Watch the full Noche UFC post-fight press conference with Jack Della Maddalena above.
