Jack Della Maddalena suffered a decisive defeat against Islam Makhachev in the UFC 322 main event, with the Russian controlling the fight for all five rounds. Della Maddalena was largely grounded, unable to mount offense for the majority of the 25-minute bout.
Coach Ben Vickers On The Fight
Speaking to Submission Radio, Jack’s coach Ben Vickers admitted that while the performance was disappointing, the issue was execution rather than strategy.
“We’re not happy with the performance — let’s put that out there,” Vickers said. “I feel like Jack could have done better. For once in his life, maybe Jack didn’t have his best performance and put his best foot forward when it mattered, which he’s always done throughout his whole career.”
Vickers was also clear about the gameplan itself.
“I don’t think there was an issue with the gameplan, just the execution,” he explained. “Definitely more movement. We wanted to do more movement. Obviously, we didn’t want to be on the ground for 19 minutes of a 25-minute fight. We wanted to do some damage.”
Execution Over Strategy: What Went Wrong
On criticism over cornering, Vickers emphasized the fighter already knew his technical tasks.
“We worked on a gameplan very hard throughout the whole camp,” he said. “Technically, Jack knew what he was to do in that fight. I don’t really feel it was my role as a coach in that fight to technically guide Jack. He knew what he was supposed to do. On that day, I feel like Jack needed kicking in the ass, and I felt like that was what my job as a coach was.”
Vickers kept some details on strategy private but highlighted lessons learned.
“I don’t wanna go too much into the gameplan because it is a gameplan we’ll use again,” he said. “I don’t think there was an issue with the gameplan, just the execution. Definitely more movement. We wanted to do more movement. Obviously, we didn’t want to be on the ground for 19 minutes of a 25-minute fight. We wanted to do some damage. I don’t think I need to reveal the gameplan or tell anyone why it didn’t work. It just wasn’t our night, and we’re not gonna dramatically change anything. I do see the mistakes that were made, and I do see some issues that we need to fix.”
Vickers also addressed how early calf kicks impacted Jack’s performance.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever been kicked in the calf, it’s not a very fun experience,” he said. “I think when the lead leg gets compromised early, it hurt the game plan a little bit in terms of switching and stuff like that. So, I commend them on their game planning against us.”
Jack Della Maddalena Responds
Following the loss, Jack issued his own statement, showing respect for Makhachev and focus on moving forward.
“Islam is one of the greats and deserved to win. I will learn and move forward.” 🙏
Jack Della Maddalena speaks for the first time following the loss to Islam Makhachev:
“Islam is one of the greats and deserved to win. I will learn and move forward.” 🙏 pic.twitter.com/V3Wp7dHhMa
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) November 20, 2025
Vickers wants Jack to take time to recover before returning to training and planning future fights.
“Jack’s not even home yet, so I haven’t had a proper chance to sit down with him and talk to him,” Vickers said. “Straight after the fight, it’s all a bit raw. But we’ll have the debrief, we’ll have the hard conversations, and we’ll figure out what went wrong, and we’ll try and put it right for next time we step back in.” via
