Jack Della Maddalena made quick work of Ramazan Emeev in the opener of the UFC 275 Main Card (Photo: MMA Fighting/Twitter)
To open the main card of UFC 275, Jack Della Maddalena (12-2, 2-0 UFC) passed his toughest test to date with an “A++”, when he defeated Russian Veteran Ramazan Emeev (20-6, 5-3 UFC) by TKO in the first round.
The win marks the Aussie’s second first round victory in the UFC since signing with the promotion in 2021.
Coming off his spectacular debut in January against Pete Rodriguez (4-1, 0-1 UFC), the Perth native showed that he might be on a path to becoming a contender in the UFC’s Welterweight division.
But his second fight in the promotion was a notable step up in competition, in the form of former M-1 Global Middleweight champion Emeev.
Emeev, who Della Maddalena referred to as the “Dagestani Wrestler test” is a very solid sambo artist who was certainly going to test his grappling skills.
But it was the scrapper from Willeton, who shut down Emeev’s offense to score a quick finish.
At the start of the fight, it was clear that Della Maddalena was getting the better of the stand-up exchanges, using his lead hand to feint and set up the left cross.
Emeev then shot in for a takedown just after a minute of the first round where the Western Australian attempted to roll, but he fell into a bad position on his back.
As Della Maddalena attempted to stand up he was caught in a tight Anaconda Choke by the Russian but after a concerning 20 seconds, was able to fight the hands and escape to his feet.
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When the fight returned to a stand up contest, it was clear that Emeev had used a lot of energy trying to complete the choke. It wasn’t long before the former Eternal MMA Champion started to close the distance before landing two body shots that sent the Russian crumbling to the canvas, leading to referee John Sharp stopping the fight after 2:32 of action.
The loss for Emeev marks the first time he has been finished in the UFC.
In his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier, Della Maddelena said that he got a lot of energy from the Perth crowd that came to watch him.
“I walked out and I saw my Perth boys standing right as I walked out” Della Maddalena said.
“That gave me the energy to knock him out cold.”
When asked about how quickly he would like to get back in the octagon, Della Maddalena jokingly said that he would fight later on in the night.
“If anyone pulls out tonight I’m ready to go, lets do it,” Della Maddalena said.
Although it was unlikely that he was going to need fill in for the Light Heavyweight championship fight at the top of the bill, it is highly likely that anyone who fights Della Maddalena next is going to have their hands full.
Having won twelve fights in a row with two first-round finishes in the UFC, it’s time to buy some stock in Jack Della Maddalena.
In the preceeding bouts, fellow Australians had mixed results.
Josh Culibao (10-1-1, 2-1-1 UFC) knocked opponent SeungWoo Choi (10-5, 3-4 UFC) down twice on the way to a split decision win (28-29, 29-28 x 2), his second promotional victory.
Meanwhile, Jacob Malkoun suffered a close unanimous decision loss to Brendon Allen, despite securing seven takedowns across the 15 minute contest.
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