UFC shaken as terminator vacates belt to fight new Aussie champ

UFC boss Dana White has confirmed his plans have been tossed out the window with Aussie champ Jack Della Maddalena sparking a radical move.

Australia’s newest UFC champ will get the chance to defend his belt against one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time.

The UFC was rocked on Tuesday when it was confirmed dominant Russian champion Islam Makhachev has vacated his lightweight title to move up to welterweight where he will try to tale Della Maddalena’s title.

The Aussie had thrown the UFC’s plans into chaos when he caused a giant upset at UFC 315 when he took down Belal Muhammad via a unanimous decision victory.

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The 27-year-old from Perth, a product of UFC boss Dana White’s Contender Series, is now a bona fide superstar and with a belt three years after his UFC debut in January 2022. He is now 8-0 in UFC fights.

However, he is sure to go in as the underdog against Makhachev.

Della Maddalena’s victory on Sunday tossed Dana White’s match-making plans out the window with the UFC boss announcing on Wednesday Ilia Topuria will now face former champion Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight belt at UFC 317 on June 29 in Las Vegas.

Jack Della Maddalena crushes Belal Muhammad’s face. Photo by Alexis Aubin / AFP.

That move means White will now begin to work out the details for when and how Della Maddalena will step back into the Octagon to face the UFC’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter.

Topuria had waited a long time for White to announce his fight with Oliveira after taking the fight promotion at its word that he would get a title fight after vacating his belt to move up in weight.

“On June 28, another dream will come true,” Topuria wrote on ‘X’ following the UFC 317 announcement on Wednesday.

“I’ll be the champion of the lightweight division.

“Charles, my apologies in advance… I’m just fighting for my dreams.”

Wednesday’s announcement is huge news for Della Maddalena.

Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev.

His win over Muhammad opened the door for Makhachev to move up. Makhachev had previously resisted the urge to go up in weight because he did not want to fight close friend Muhammad.

Almost immediately after Della Maddalena won the belt on Sunday, Makhachev tweeted “Time to become a double champion, let’s go”.

Della Maddalena admitted as much when asked about the possibility of facing Makhachev in his post-fight press conference.

“There are a lot of good welterweights. Obviously I think (with) what he’s (Makhachev) done, he probably deserves the shot if he wants to step up,” he said.

“But I guess that’s something that’s not my call. It’s up to the UFC.”