Makhachev dominates Western Australia’s Della Maddalena to win second UFC title

“That’s why I’ve been so prepared to make this easier.

Loading

“I tried to do a few chokes, but he defends it very well. But I made it easy because I trained so hard.”

While Makhachev has strongly stated that he prefers to stay at welterweight in order to dominate the division, Della Maddalena will have to significantly increase her grappling-evasion techniques if she wants any chance of winning another bout on the circuit.

Makhachev (28-1) barely got hit throughout the fight and needed just 70 seconds to score his first takedown.

That meant Della Maddalena (18-3) had to scrap to stay alive for almost four minutes until the first-round bell saved him and the 29-year-old gave away a foul for a late strike.

Della Maddalena made a mistake early in the second when his attempt to throw Makhachev resulted in another takedown and he was forced into another long, grueling scrap to survive.

Makhachev’s calf kicks early in each round began to take their toll on Della Maddalena in the third, and the Russian continued to control things the same way for the remainder of the contest.

Della Maddalena did well every time to avoid submission.

However, the West Australian player, whose right leg was shattered and unable to respond to Makhachev’s struggle, could barely fire.

In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko defended her flyweight title against strawweight star Zhang Weili, marking herself as one of the best female UFC fighters of all time.

Loading

Zhang relinquished her strawweight belt to meet Shevchenko, but the size difference between the two was noticeable throughout.

Shevchenko (26-4-1) defeated Weili (26-4) in every round and dominated from start to finish to earn the unanimous decision.

Ecuador’s Michael Morales (19-0) took another step towards the heavyweight title fight after defeating No. 2 opponent Sean Brady with a first-round knockout.

Carlos Prates (23-7) also entered the heavyweight championship discussion by knocking out former champion Leon Edwards (22-6) in the second round.

The first fight of the main card lasted just 16 seconds, and Benoit Saint-Denis defeated Beneil Dariush, the sixth fastest knockout in UFC lightweight history.

Meanwhile, American MMA fighter Dillon Danis, who is not part of the UFC, was banned from UFC events for life after being involved in a crowd brawl against Makhachev’s support staff.

AAP