Despite being dominated by Islam Makhachev, Jack Della Maddalena predicts Ian Machado Garry will win at UFC 330

Islam Makhachev moved up after vacating his lightweight title to challenge Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight gold at UFC 322. He dominated the Australian, recording more than 19 minutes of control time in the 25-minute fight, and dethroned him via a unanimous 50-45 decision victory to become the new 170-pound king.

As Makhachev gears up for his first welterweight title defense against Irish star Ian Machado Garry this Saturday in the main event of UFC 330, Della Maddalena, despite having been in the octagon and dominated by Makhachev, predicts that the Irishman will get his hand raised at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

Jack Della Maddalena backs Ian Machado Garry to dethrone Islam Makhachev

In his recent Instagram video, Della Maddalena explained his reasoning for picking Garry to dethrone Makhachev. He believes the Irish star could have the right tools to neutralize the reigning champion's game and secure the biggest victory of his career.

Maddalena believes Garry's size, length, and ability to maintain distance could make the Irishman a difficult matchup for Makhachev. The Australian expects Garry to avoid extended grappling exchanges and instead use his striking to control the fight from range.

“I believe Ian Garry is going to get the win,” Della Maddalena said. “I think he’s going to be too long, going to be able to keep the distance, keep the fight in the range that he’s going to have the advantage.”

According to the former champion, Garry's kicking game and jab could play a major role in preventing Makhachev from closing the distance and establishing his wrestling. 

“He’s going to kick the legs, jab, stay away from Makhachev, and outpoint his way to a five-round decision,” the Australian added.

Check out Jack Della Maddalena's prediction below: 

The Australian struggled to counter the Dagestani's grappling-heavy game plan, as Makhachev repeatedly secured takedowns and maintained control throughout the championship bout at UFC 322.

However, Della Maddalena believes Garry possesses a different set of physical tools that could create problems for the champion.

Meanwhile, Makhachev has claimed that he will take more risks in his fight against Garry to get the finish, as he was unable to finish Della Maddalena at UFC 322.

Islam Makhachev vows to take more risks and finish Ian Machado Garry

In his recent interview with MMA Junkie, Makhachev reflected on his fight with Della Maddalena and explained that he simply wanted to get the win, so he didn't take many risks and focused on controlling him to get the job done.

However, the pound-for-pound king has vowed to take more risks at UFC 330 and secure a finish against Garry. He also pointed to the Irishman's fighting style and believes he can finish him once he gets the fight to the ground.

“This fight, I will take more risks to finish my opponent, because I like finishing my opponents,” Makhachev said to MMAJunkie. “This fight, I think honestly, from the first time when I take him down, I have a chance to finish him, because I saw his ground game – it’s not so good, you know? He have good striking, long reach, long arm, and he control the distance, always go back, but I see when I take him down, it’s gonna be a finish.”