By Philip O’Connor
(Reuters) -Islam Makhachev’s five-round demolition of Jack Della Maddalena in New York on Saturday caused a seismic shift in the UFC as he claimed the welterweight title at the first time of asking, changing the landscape for potential contenders.
In a division brimming with talent, plenty of prospective challengers watched the fight hoping to see some chinks in the 34-year-old’s armour as he stepped up to the 170-pound class for the first time.
However, they were left with little to go on as the man from the mountains of Dagestan completely outclassed his opponent.
Australian Della Maddalena did not win a single frame of the five-round bout on the judges’ scorecards, surrendering the belt he won when he blew the division wide open by beating Belal Muhammad back in May.
However, former lightweight champion Makhachev, who gave up the lightweight title to move up to welterweight, quickly slammed the door on the other contenders on Saturday.
“I am really happy. The (welterweight) belt is so heavy, and I like it! I worked hard for this moment,” he said in the cage as he celebrated.
For once, Makhachev did not have to make the debilitating cut to make the 155-pound lightweight limit; instead, he had to bear the weight of expectation as favourite in a title fight in a new division.
He need not have worried. From the opening bell he dominated Della Maddalena, first piecing him up with strikes before pivoting to the fearsome wrestling game that he has perfected under his coach, former UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Built on crushing top pressure and straitjacket control, that suffocating grappling attack is the foundation of Makhachev’s dominance in MMA.
His ground game offers a number of possibilities to his trapped opponents, with each one getting successively worse; in the end they are usually left on the bottom, fighting to survive as he tightens his cobra-like grip.
Despite all this, contenders such as Carlos Prates, Ian Machado Garry and former champions Muhammad and Kamaru Usman will be jostling to be the next man to take him on, but after Saturday’s win, Makhachev seemed more concerned with the venue for his next fight, rather than the opponent.
“Donald Trump let’s go – open the White House, I am coming,” he shouted in the cage, referring to the proposed UFC card in Washington D.C. in 2026.
Wherever it happens and whoever it will be against, few will bet against Makhachev after Saturday’s dominant display.
(Reporting by Philip O’Connor)
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