Jack Della Maddalena: Welterweight's Savior?

Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315

Can Jack Della Maddalena Save Welterweight, With Violence?

Contents:

• What Makes the Champion?

• Sunny Side Up or Scrambled?

• Cracks in the Crown

• A Strategy for the Challenger

Much to the chagrin of MMA fans, Belal Muhammad sits atop the Welterweight division. Once home to GOAT contender Georges St. Pierre and violence legend Robbie Lawler, Muhammad’s place on the throne feels underwhelming. Despite wresting the title from Leon Edwards, his lack of potency from his preferred top position, technical execution, and generally boring style seem to mark him out among the lineage at 170 pounds. Leon Edwards certainly had his flaws, but his clinch was unmatched: his mind let him down more than his actual skillset.

The UFC is in an interesting time, where a number of champions are technical messes in at least one phase, but excel in executing a strategic gameplan, finding tactical openings throughout a fight. With Muhammad, Dricus du Plessis, Merab Dvalishvili, and Alexandre Pantoja all wearing the belt, one might even call it a meta.

UFC 315 takes place this Saturday, May 10th, in Montréal, Canada and Jack Della Maddalena (JDM) has the chance to change that. A great foil to Muhammad as an exciting, heavy handed finisher who’s had at least one maddeningly silly strategic failure (hello, Bassil Hafez). His love of body work and metal hands have made me a huge fan. Though I’ve talked down on Muhammad, he’s a strategically sound fighter; the rematch versus Edwards being a prime example. He can win a fight on optics, staying competitive enough in the striking and finding a great takedown to maintain a very flaccid control on top (PAUSE) for the remainder of the round. He might not be the scariest champion to come up against, but he is assuredly a frustrating one.

What Makes the Champion?

Belal Muhammad’s greatest strengths are his conditioning and ability to maintain top control when he finds himself there (no slouch in transitional offense either (V3)). He put this to use in his rematch with Leon Edwards, where he fought out of type (V1). Muhammad and his team realized how allergic Edwards is to pressure, and focused the entire approach on moving forward with feints and cutting off exits with stance switches to lead him to the cage where Muhammad could shoot a takedown. They took advantage of the fact that Leon opts for a “Hillbilly Shell” when you punch him here, occupying him with soft punches that leave his hips undefended from a takedown (V2). The team is obviously well studied to take advantage of a fighter’s habits, and Muhammad has always been good at executing a gameplan.

The problem tends to be his execution (V4). In a losing effort against Geoff Neal, he realized by the second round that targeting the body was a great way to push Neal back, tire him out, and pair well with his hands dropping for a level change. The way in which he targets the body leaves a lot to be desired. Muhammad starts his combination by jabbing around Neal’s lead leg to obtain outside foot position: good! He follows this with a short right uppercut to Neal’s body (good), but brings his rear leg forward to square his stance, leaving his rear hand down by his hip: bad. By the time Muhammad is squaring his stance, Neal has already pivoted to face him, taking away his advantageous angle to pop him with a rear straight while he is on one leg without a guard to speak of.

If JDM is to claim the throne, he needs to be stay vigilant in the face of Muhammad’s solid strategic foundation that allows him to enforce his A-Game: Taking him down and holding him as long as he can.

V1

Disclaimer: The video clips included in this article are not owned by the author. They are included for educational purposes only to illustrate key moments in the fighter’s career and demonstrate aspects of mixed martial arts techniques and strategies. All rights to the video content belong to their respective owners.

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Sunny Side Up or Scrambled?

If you have been following Jack Della Maddalena’s career (you should, he’s the most exciting thing in Welterweight) the fight standing stark in everyone’s mind is that versus Bassil Hafez. He dissuaded most fan’s worries by staying competitive with Gilbert Burns, a much more accomplished grappler, in his last outing, but this fight sticks out like a sore thumb.

Make no mistake, he won this fight comfortably, beating the piss out of Hafez. What confounded anyone watching was his Dustin Poirer-like insistence to secure the guillotine choke (V5). Faced with a takedown he could have comfortably stuffed, JDM opted to concede the bottom position in favor of trying to choke this short notice replacement out. Given recent footage (take it with a grain of salt, Craig Jones is nothing if not a salesman), there’s reason to believe its a wonderfully potent choke for him, but conceding bottom position is almost never the answer to winning an MMA fight. You’re more likely to get stuck on the bottom, forced to work your way back to the feet. This is a losing strategy against Muhammad, and I don’t expect him to make such an error.

His corner has recently been bolstered by submission grappling’s perennial #2 contender Craig Jones. Jones was an instrumental piece in Volkanovski’s fantastic counter-grappling against Islam Makhachev, and I would not be surprised if his savvy came into play here. After all, Muhammad himself has been training with the Dagestan team. This matchup is another chance for Australian grappling to prove itself over Dagestan’s sambo. Volkanovski is a generational talent however, so its not a surprise that you could coach someone so adept in every phase. What is Jones working with in Della Maddalena?

V5

Layer 1: Protect the Hips

The first layer of wrestling defense, anti-grappling, or counter wrestling, is the ability to stuff or counter takedown attempts. This is done by denying the opponent the legs and hips. The anti-grapplers job is to keep space between his hips and the opponent while staying on his feet.

JDM is no grappling slouch, in fact he’s quite crafty. If he were to have a weakest phase of grappling however, it would be his takedown defense. JDM often allows his opponent’s right on his hips (V6). He will quickly find an overhook and start digging the underhook to pull the opponent up from his hips to enter a body lock, which is a much easier position to defend from. In assessing the matchup with Muhammad, he would do well to try and prevent this phase entirely. Muhammad’s fence wrestling was incredibly effective against Leon Edwards, one of the premier clinchers in the sport.

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So is JDM toast? Does he even have a chance if he serves up his hips so easily?

He does. When JDM isn’t caught over-extending his combinations, he does quite well at turning his hips while sprawling and posting on the head to push them off (V7). This has incredible synergy with the uppercut (V8). The uppercut is one of the best counters to a shooting opponent. The knee is great, but it presents the leg if it doesn’t land flush. The uppercut however can turn into an underhook or post upon landing. Once JDM is able to break his opponent’s lock he can snap them down in the front headlock to work knees, while his arms and choke attempts negate the takedown (V9).

All of this worked a treat against Hafez, but we can’t expect it to have the same effect on Muhammad. By this point in the fight Hafez was dead tired from the body work, and Muhammad himself has a huge gas tank. Rather than try and turn into Jose Aldo overnight, JDM can simply make a few tweaks in his approach to fighting wrestlers.

Enter the down block (V10).

Jean Silva showed us a great way to maintain striking potency while prepared for the takedown against Drew Dober. JDM tends to swing a bit wide with both hands when he senses a finish. Rather than extend himself every time, he can focus his lead hand on feinting, while keeping a low, tight guard. When sprawling, this elbow digs into the chin and shoulder that keeps them from entering the hips, while allowing the rear hand to uppercut with abandon should they come in. This easily converts into an underhook to build the opponent back up to land knees. Silva has shown that this down block guard can work beautifully even when up against the cage. The best part? Its tailor made for grappling defense in the open stance. Rather than presenting your opponent with squared hips, the open stance matchup blades the hips more, making it harder for a successful blast double. It presents the single as the only viable takedown option in open space.

JDM tends to fight from southpaw, but will switch throughout. Muhammad himself is no stranger to switching in combination, but should JDM have this in mind, he can easily keep the fight in the open stance. His footwork and striking is more studied and than Muhammad’s, and Muhammad has struggled striking in the open stance anyway.

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Layer 2: Counter Fence Wrestling

Now we enter the phases where JDM is more proficient. I harp on takedown defense as it is the most reliable way to deter a wrestler, but it is by no means the only way to disrupt their game. When the opponent has JDM smushed against the fence he is not afraid to try things. Even in almost impossible odds, facing away from Hafez with no grips, JDM can still generate enough force to throw him with an outside trip (V11). He almost completely reverses the position, but Hafez’s advantage and tight grip with the back body lock was too much to overcome.

When Della Maddalena is in a proper clinch, his osotogari can work wonders (V12). He doesn’t even need to secure top position, as it simply gets him off the fence while opening up opportunities for transitional offense. This might be my favorite aspect of his grappling: creativity and courage. Kazushi Sakuraba was a fighter who exhibited these traits in spades, and JDM takes a page from his book with the kimura trap along the cage (V13).

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Layer 3: Forcing the Scramble

Belal Muhammad is much more gifted as a takedown artist along the cage than he is in open space, but JDM is prepared for every eventuality. The best facet to JDM’s grappling is his scrambling (V14). “Scrambling” is a pretty broad term, but take it simply to mean that a fighter is able to maintain a sense of momentum in grappling exchanges. They do not settle on the bottom position, instead moving at all times in order to find a way on top or back to their feet. JDM’s own ability to scramble is predicated upon building his base (V14), Granby rolls (V14, V15), and creating space between his and his opponent’s hips (V15, it’s a common theme in every grappling phase). His ability to maintain a scramble however is enabled by an insistence on fighting grips, often with two-on-ones (V19) that keep one of the opponent’s arms occupied while he further debases them with his feet.

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Once he and his opponent hit the ground JDM’s only goal is to stand up. A great sign against Muhammad in that he rarely if ever accepts the bottom position. JDM is an animal lover when it comes to grappling from his back, opting for the butterfly and octopus guard to facilitate his stand ups.

Often called “elevators” in wrestling, JDM is always looking for butterfly hooks no matter the position. His hands focus on the opponent’s, and his feet on their inner thighs. Butterfly hooks were instrumental in staying competitive with an ever more wrestle-heavy Gilbert Burns on the ground (V16). Even as Burns has him in a tight cradle, he forces his cradled leg to obtain the butterfly hook on bottom position. Realistically, he has very little leverage here. With a little help from his hands grabbing the far leg, JDM rolls back to elevate burns with his butterfly, turning him into the cage and wrestling up to the single. He still ends up below Burns, the cradle is a hard grip to break. Its meant to take away any of his leverage while bearing the opponent’s weight. He put Burns on the cage rather than being smashed against the cage himself. Though in the worse spot of the two, positioning himself cage-center makes him much more competitive than had he ended up here.

Though not a traditional butterfly hook, utilizing the concept of his legs as elevators was instrumental in the finishing sequence of this very same fight (V17). As Burns brought him down with a Dagestani handcuff, JDM brought his shoulder to the mat and kept Burns’ hips high, his own thigh blocking Burns’ inner thigh, like a very deep butterfly (Technically, this would be a reverse Z-sweep, but it utilizes the same principle of elevating the opponent to create space). JDM could now escape, stand up, and knee Burns clean in the face for the finishing sequence.

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V17

Should JDM not find the standup with his butterfly hooks, he is always looking for an octopus guard get-up, a favorite of his grappling coach Craig Jones (V18). Essentially, JDM clears the arms from side control to bring his arm around the waist while building onto his other elbow and side of his hip. This creates space between the hips for Della Maddalena to build his base to the turtle, and eventually stand up. This invites the choke opportunity, but he focuses on building quickly enough that this is often irrelevant (V19). JDM is looking for butterfly hooks or a waist wrap for his octopus get up before he and his opponent’s hit the ground. His best case scenario in this fight would have him stuff every single one of Muhammad’s takedown attempts, but thats a tough ask. When they end up here, I’m confident that JDM will be more than competitive enough early to keep the grappling interesting.

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Layer 4: Survival

Belal Muhammad is no submission wizard. He’s a fence wrestler who is woefully ineffective at inflicting damage from the top. I am an Eagle Scout though, and the Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared”, and that Jack Della Maddalena is. JDM embodies the name of his gym Scrappy MMA well, having survived two incredibly deep submission attempts through patience and grit (V20, V21). Its easy to look at these and think,

“What idiot lets himself end up in these positions?”

but such is the nature of fighting. If these sequences tell us anything, it lets us know that JDM is composed under the imminent threat of being choked out, and systematically looks for a way out. He does not panic, much like his Australian contemporary Alexander Volkanovski.

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Cracks in the Crown

Jack Della Maddalena must negate the prospect of being laid on for 3/5 rounds. If he can stay active enough, whilst not letting the takedown threat neuter his striking, he is more than capable of dismantling the Welterweight Champion. Belal Muhammad is by no means a polished fighter. He has a tactical mind but many technical flaws in his takedowns, footwork, and striking. Muhammad was able to put on a lovely pressure performance against Leon Edwards, taking advantage of his habits and passivity to eke out the win, but this is not his usual approach to fighting. He is more apt to skirt around on the back foot, circling the edge of the cage while the opponent follows him (V22). In the dead spaces of the fight he’ll look to enforce his jab and throw a lot of body kicks. Its an interesting idea, that doesn’t exactly flow into his winning condition, but it has worked thus far. Put into perspective, the Edwards fight is even more impressive as he was able to fight completely out of type. Just like Edwards in his trilogy fight with Kamaru Usman however, we do not yet know if this was a one time deal. JDM’s pressure and power are sure to make Muhammad uncomfortable in moments, and the closer he gets to a “fight or flight” physiological state, the more he will fall back on what he is most comfortable doing.

V22

Should Muhammad fall back on old habits, JDM’s footwork is going to be a problem. Muhammad likes darting around the cage like a bow-legged Willie Pep, while JDM takes considered, lateral steps to enter range and cut off any potential exits (V24). JDM will often shift into a squared, closed stance that gives him a good angle to land his (now rear) hand over the opponent’s lead (V23). When pressed against the cage, the bulk of JDM’s movement is in wide lateral steps that keep the opponent in front of him, rather than chasing them around the cage like a fox on a hare (V24).

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V24

Where JDM utilizes shifts offensively, pressuring his opponents while denying exits, Muhammad is a bit more random. He too is quite the prolific stance switcher offensively (V26) and defensively (V25). Where JDM stays upright in his stance, squaring his hips without allowing his punch to pull his body, and rear foot, forward, Muhammad lunges with his punches at times and is forced to shift out of necessity. If he doesn’t he will simply lose his balance (V26). This can work well, and often did against Edwards in the rematch. Muhammad’s opponents are ever aware of his takedown, so he can get away with some messy shifts as the opponent is too afraid to commit to a counter punch, opening up their hips to the Muhammad’s wrestling. The problems arise in his shifting retreat (V25).

I, Ghost and many others have harped on linear retreats in MMA. They can work, and do against most competition, but are exploitable at the highest level. You could theoretically circle forever. Moving back in a straight line will inevitably bring you to the cage. For whatever reason, Belal Muhammad shifts on his linear retreats when met with an exchange, rather than simply moving backwards in his stance. He constantly gets cracked with a big punch while doing this (V27), the shift leaves him on one leg. Had he remained in his stance, he would better be able to absorb the blow through his body, and feet, into the ground. Instead he takes the full brunt of the strike in the face, his head snapping back like a trash can lid (V28). Given JDM’s own shifting to cover distance, I can see him badly hurting Muhammad in at least one moment during a retreat from an exchange this fight.

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Another baffling decision of Muhammad’s back foot performances is his insistence to kick from this position (V29). Why, in a million years, would you kick the body of a man who has already entered punching range and is teeing off on your face? Muhammad made it work, as he seems to make everything work, but seeing this is not a good sign for any fighter.

Its likely that Muhammad simply loves the body kick. He’s always throwing it within the dead spaces of a fight and often lands it clean. It is a reliable attritive weapon for him. Muhammad’s shifting retreats can pretty conclusively be labelled a bad habit. His body kicks are a good habit, but all habits can be exploited. A new facet to JDM’s game that I wasn’t acutely aware of prior to watching the film was his kick checking and catching (V31). He’s very consistent in utilizing the cross-check to catch open-side kicks (V32). As a southpaw, he’s very aware of the tendency to throw in body kicks with abandon, and gets his cross check up. If it does not check it completely, he’s often ready with a scoop grip to catch the kick, sweep it, and punch while the opponent is off-balanced (V32).

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I see real opportunities for JDM to damage Muhammad during his shifting retreats and body kick counters. Though he hasn’t been finished of late, Muhammad has still been knocked silly against Luque, Neal, and Good (V33-V35). He has somehow survived many of these exchanges, but JDM is simply a different animal. He is not the one-punch knockout threat of a fighter like Josh Emmett, but his thudding punches damage opponent’s into submission (V36). His finishing IQ, varied targets, positioning, and rhythm, all make him one of the most potent finishers in the sport today. Muhammad, while an expert game planer, has exploitable habits, and JDM is simply good at finishing fights.

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A Strategy for the Challenger

Jack Della Maddalena can work on his first layer grappling defense, but he’s quite prepared should it get past that. He uses techniques that take advantage of Muhammad’s habits, and he finishes fights like the bonus is his entire paycheck. All of that looks wonderful on paper for him.

It could all go down the drain if he doesn’t take the right approach. One fighter can be perfectly suited to beat another, but the strategy they implement can flip the dynamic on its head. First, what should JDM avoid doing this fight?

Do not overextend on combinations. JDM is a powerful puncher and mechanically tight in moments, but he can get overzealous when he smells the kill and swings wide strikes in combination. He has shown restraint in his latest performance however (V37, V38) landing clean on Burns 2-3 times, and backing out of range to account for the threat of the takedown.

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V38

He should be ramming body strikes in from the outside. The best way to tire a well-conditioned wrestler is to target the body (V39). Body hooks in combination (V39), rear straights to pressure them to the cage (V40), and his lovely teep kick (V41) are all beautiful weapons that are hard to counter, and synergize with his preferred stance.

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V41

The only change he should make to his usual stance is to keep a lower lead hand when along the cage to better down block. This does not take away from his jab as a pressure tool, rear hand uppercuts to counter the takedown, or body work. All it does is allow him to better defend shots along the cage. The less time he spends on his back, the more time he spends winning.

I see a lot of holes in Muhammad’s game, and I’m confident that JDM and his corner are professional enough to take advantage of them. For the sake of the Welterweight division, I hope they do.

I’d like to thank my friend Ghost for giving me the opportunity to write this guest post for you. He is a wonderful analyst and scout, and a friend of mine to boot. I hope you all enjoyed it and learned something. If you did like it, feel free to check out my work. Appreciate the love, follow Ghost, and have a blessed day.

Shameless Plugs

Ghost here, this was a phenomenal article by Kick of Movement Martials, writer of Combat Codex.

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