Kamaru Usman is apparently the ‘backup’ plan for Jack Della Maddalena. The UFC welterweight may have suffered a broken arm during his UFC 299 fight against Gilbert Burns. Yet, it didn’t stop him from achieving a KO victory. The Australian is currently in his recovery period. But his recent appearance on ‘The Grin Reaper‘ YouTube podcast revealed that he had already decided who he wanted to fight next. Maddalena said he wanted the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov, for his next fight. However, he also disclosed that he had a backup plan if his preferred fight didn’t materialize.
The Australian realizes that Rakhmonov is one of the most touted welterweight contenders in the current UFC roster. Citing this as his primary motivation to challenge the Kazakhstan native, the Australian said,
“I’ve always liked Shavkat’s style. I always sort of wanted to fight Shavkat. I think he’s the best and it’s a pretty challenging fight.”
However, due to ‘Nomad’s’ current popularity, the UFC authorities might pit the Kazakhstani against someone else as well. This is probably why Maddalena chose the former UFC welterweight king, Kamaru Usman, as the backup fighter for his return fight. He answered the podcast host’s question about his backup plan, saying,
“I don’t know, maybe Usman.”
Continuing his conversation with the host, the Australian also shed light on the turnaround-time of his injury. Maddalena revealed that it won’t take him much longer to recover. He exuded confidence of being able to make his return on an August card in Perth. The 27-year-old’s choice of rivals also showcases that he wants to go after the top-ranked contenders of his division after he recovers from his injury.
Maddalena choosing ‘Nomad’ as his preferred rival may be taken as an example of his come-what-may attitude. However, this can’t be said for every fighter competing in the UFC. While the Australian is itching to square off against ‘Nomad’, there’s another welterweight contender who recently got accused of ducking a fight against the same Rakhmonov.
Renato Moicano accused Colby Covington of ducking Shavkat Rakhmonov and being scared of him
Recently, UFC lightweight, Renato Moicano, expressed a unique take on the current scenario of the UFC welterweight division. Moicano appeared on ‘Show Me the Money‘ podcast recently where he received a question about the ongoing feud between Colby Covington and Ian Machado Garry. However, instead of providing a straightforward answer, the Brazilian drifted out of the topic and expressed that Covington was “scared” to fight Shavkat Rakhmonov.
Moicano also doubled down on the fact that the bad blood between Covington and Garry was Chaos’ way of masking his denial to face Rakhmonov. However, there is no concrete evidence that can back the claims and it can be perceived as Moicano’s personal perspective.
Although, speaking from a fan’s perspective, they would like to witness both of these matchups. It also won’t be wrong to say that both Covington and Maddalena can offer strong resistance to the Kazakhstan native’s victory train in pro-MMA.
