Yes I am genuinely picking Jack Della-Maddalena to beat Islam Makhachev I don’t know why people think its rage bait to be honest as it seems perfectly valid to pick JDM. Now do I think he wins by f*cking TKO… not necessarily but I do think he wins this fight somewhat similarly to how he beat Belal Muhammad. JDM uses a very strong high guard for his striking defence which is a great way to block strikes and while its weakness is knees up the middle, 1. Islam ain’t gonna take advantage of that. 2. JDM is never stationary enough to get hit flush. He also likes to dip his head with the high guard to stop takedowns which is very rare and impressive as most high guard users have sh*t takedown defence. I mean he looked phenomenal against Belal Muhammad, out striking him and stuffing nearly all the takedowns. Belal couldn’t wrestle effectively because of how active JDM is on the feet and his guard dipping whenever Belal tried to shoot. Now some may say “Its Belal” genuinely hate on Belal Muhammad all you want but the guy is very good. He out struck Leon Edwards, finished Sean Brady and is an elite wrestler. Probably a hot take but I was always on the Belal beats Shavkat train and while maybe not now considering Belal is old and just took a f*cking ton of damage but if Belal vs Shavkat happened at UFC 310 I would have (correctly) picked Belal Muhammad. JDM goes out and 49-46s the guy lmao JDM is the best welterweight in the world in my opinion and I know most will disagree but I seriously think he beats everyone. Now obviously thats all about JDM but lets look at Islam… lets take a look at his last 3 wins hmm. Fat Volkanovski on 13 days notice… very impressive to put him a way in the 1st tbf but cmon now. Dustin Poirier well past his prime with his body falling apart he had literal broken ribs and still Dustin arguably won 2 rounds and took Islam to a 5th. Then he choked out Renato Moicano in the 1st round which is impressive but its f*cking Moicano… I’m not really understanding how Islam Makhachev is probably the favourite and who most people are picking. Don’t get me wrong I bought into it to saying this mf was ligthweight goat but when you actually deep his wins they just don’t impress me too much. Jack is also the naturally bigger man which is always an advantage. Islam literally got dropped my Moicano lmao… (the fact he arguably was getting outstruck for that 3 minute period is kind of wild tho) Idgaf I am not rating Islam as highly as when I deep his wins and objectively mid performance against Dustin I just don’t believe he is the terminator many seem to think he is. I think Sean Brady beats Islam honestly, I think f*cking Ian Garry stylistically gives Islam issues. I think Shavkat gives him issues. Its kind of crazy to think that but until Islam proves me wrong I just ain’t rating him super highly. And I am NOT saying Islam is bad but he is incredibly overrated by many. I’m also not saying he has a chance as Islam is better than Belal, he has 1,000,000% more finishing ability than Belal Muhammad especially on the ground and I’d say he is a better wrestler in general. I would be shocked if Islam didn’t have some success on the ground against Jack. On the feet though I think he is gonna get the p*ss beaten out of him just like Belal but maybe even worse… hot take Belal has sick boxing and can actually strike pretty well, Belal also has a way better chin than Islam as Belal realistically should have got chinned by JDM but somehow didn’t even get knocked down. Islam has better striking defence for sure but he is a little chinny arguably and isn’t used to being hit by a powerful welterweight either. I will happily debate people in the comments as I enjoy hearing others opinions. JDM 49-46 win as he will out damage Islam on the feet and avoid the submission threat. 🦘