Jack Della Maddalena’s coach weighs in on claims he faced Islam Makhachev with an injury

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Jack Della Maddalena was showing signs of discomfort throughout the main event.

The Australian’s time as welterweight champion came to a quick end at UFC 322, losing in decisive fashion.

Della Maddalena lost to Islam Makhachev, who ended his reign just six months after he won the title from Belal Muhammad.

Makhachev racked up more than 18 minutes of control time over five rounds at Madison Square Garden, and Della Maddalena’s reactions during several grappling sequences have raised questions about whether he might have been dealing with an injury before the fight even began.

Did Jack Della Maddalena suffer an injury before UFC 322?

‘JDM’ has not spoken publicly since his loss in New York City. However, his coach Ben Vickers did address the situation while discussing Jack’s loss to Makhachev during an appearance on Submission Radio.

During that interview, Vickers responded to questions about a possible injury. He did not confirm anything but also did not shut down the rumours entirely.

“When you commit to having a fight, it doesn’t matter what the f— is wrong with you, if anything was,” Vickers said.

“I am not going to confirm or deny anything. When we decided to step in the cage, we believed Jack could win that fight.

“That is all I’m gonna say. There are no excuses here. We didn’t do enough on the day to get the job done.

“I sit here and make no excuses. Jack was ready, and I was confident Jack was going to win.”

Islam Makhachev calls out Jack Della Maddalena’s coach Craig Jones

Makhachev showed respect for Della Maddalena after UFC 322, but he still took issue with someone in the Australian’s camp.

Even though he did not manage to secure a submission, the Dagestani focused his attention on Della Maddalena’s jiu-jitsu coach, Craig Jones.

“Jokes aside, Craig Jones needs to be fired. We have to make Australia great again!” read a post from Makhachev’s account on X.

It is unclear if the message came directly from Makhachev. Some believe it was written by Ali Abdelaziz, who has been accused in the past of managing fighters’ social media posts without their direct input.