FLYING UNDER THE RADAR | Jack Della Maddalena vs Ramazan Emeev

This coming weekend, the UFC will touchdown in Singapore for the fifth time, for UFC 275 headlined by Light Heavyweight champion, Glover Teixeira and challenger, Jiri Prochazka. Not only will the Light Heavyweight title be on the line for the first PPV in South East Asia, but the women’s Flyweight title will also be contested. With there being two title fights on the card, one fight is discreetly going under the radar as a sleeper underrated fight. That being Jack Della Maddalena vs Ramazan Emeev.

In his UFC debut versus Pete Rodriguez, Maddalena exhibited extremely crisp boxing. Hardcore MMA fans, in particular UFC fans, have took an extreme liking to the Aussie due to his clear skill. On the other side stands Ramazan Emeev. The Russian stands as the far more experienced fighter of the two, already with 25 professional MMA bouts. Last time out, he came up short in a battle with the Brit, Danny Roberts. Prior to his last loss though, he defeated two Germans on the bounce, Stolze and Zawada.

Jack’s Keys To Victory

There is no doubt that Jack Della Maddalena comes into this fight as the more polished striker of the two. In his last outing he painted Rodriguez’s face red with his constant popping jab. During the fight, the 25-year-old showcased that he is an extremely comfortable fighter and can be calculative, as throughout, he switched stances looking equally as good in Orthodox and Southpaw. His counter punching caused Rodriguez a whole lot of issues as whenever the American tried to put on some forward pressure, he was met with either a stiff jab or a counter shot. His tight boxing guard allows him to soak up shots while he prepares to throw a counter bomb. One thing that needs to be further proved by the Australian prospect is that he can hold his own in the grappling and wrestling department. In his Contender Series bout with Ange Loosa, he proved to be a tough test to takedown and dominate on the mat, showing glimpses of impressive scrambling.

Jack’s chance of victory in this upcoming bout lies on his ability to keep the fight contested in the middle of the Octagon, and to be able to throw his popping jab to keep the distance between himself and Emeev. I don’t expect to see Della Maddalena throw many kicks, as in the past, Emeev has showcased a tremendous ability to perfectly time the takedown when a kick is thrown his way.

Emeev’s Keys To Victory

Despite the high praise for Jack Della Maddalena, Emeev stands as undoubtably the toughest test so far for the Australian. The experience of the Russian alone is something Della Maddalena hasn’t faced yet, as in his 13 professional bouts so far, he is yet to fight anyone with over 10 professional fights. Not only that, but Emeev’s wrestling ability will be a weapon we will likely see deployed in this fight.

The former M-1 Global Middleweight champion has shown in his previous bouts that despite his opponent, he is likely the dominant wrestler. Last time out, he showcased his wrestling acumen getting the fight with Danny Roberts to the ground in the first five minutes. He didn’t manage to keep the Brit down for long though, and then found himself involved in a striking match with the powerful Roberts. Before this bout, Ramazan Emeev found himself 5-0 in the UFC in fights which he scored at least 1 takedown.

Emeev’s keys to victory at UFC 225 lie solely on his ability to get Della Maddalena down on the ground, away from the cage. He will have to frustrate the 25-year-old getting him in exchanges that he doesn’t want to be involved in. Della Maddalena’s cautiousness of the takedown may play into Emeev’s hands and he may find that the tight guard of Jack becomes open at some points during their scrap, opening up the opportunity to land some crisp combos of his own.

Jack Della Maddalena finds himself on the main card of a primetime UFC event for the first time in his extremely short tenure, with Emeev set to feature on a UFC main card for the second time.

If Della Maddalena can get past the tricky test of Emeev, his popularity will grow tenfold, and it won’t be long till UFC fans around the globe are calling him a serious Welterweight contender.