Aussie Jack Della Maddalena Faces Kevin Holland in UFC Welterweight Showdown

This coming weekend, Australian Jack Della Maddalena will be put through his toughest test in the UFC to date, and it will undoubtedly be his most entertaining, as he prepares for a fight against the extremely well-liked Kevin Holland.

When they log on for their fight week Zoom interviews, the majority of UFC fighters are either seated in a hotel room or at a table located in a media area.

Sometimes they are caught, in which case they have to conduct the interview while driving or while they are out getting coffee.

That would not be Kevin Holland.

Holland, who was given the nickname "Big Mouth" by Dana White, pops into our Zoom call with a big smile on his face and an apology for being late. Holland is scheduled to compete against Jack Della Maddalena, an Australian fighter, this weekend.

"Hello, Kevin... "Hey, bud, exactly where are you at this very moment?"

He continues on without skipping a beat, saying, "I'm in the shower, bruh."

Kevin Holland stands apart from the majority of his other UFC competitors.

The victor of this weekend's welterweight fight between Holland and Della Maddalena in Las Vegas will vault to the top of the 170-pound category, but Holland isn't concerned about any of that or about winning a title.

I promise you, dude, you'll never hear me bring up the term again. I came to have fun and pick fights with as many people as possible.

"If I happen to smack everyone in my way and there's a title shot, then I'll take it, but I'm just here to get paid and get laid."

The differences between Holland and Della Maddalena outside of the cage are striking.

The West Australian fighter is easygoing, motivated by the chance to go up in the rankings, and already planning how he'll catch the Wallabies' World Cup match against Fiji.

But once inside the Octagon, they're almost interchangeable. They have no patience for inactivity and will push through anyone standing in their way.

Della Maddalena says, "I'm a fan, to be honest; he's always down to fight; he just enjoys the sport." I can appreciate that since it's exactly how I feel.

"He's funny, and I like him, but eventually we're going to have to fight because we're both humans and we have our differences."

The five-bout winning streak of Della Maddalena, who was scheduled to fight on the same UFC 290 night as Alex Volkanovski and Rob Whittaker, was cut short.

Two of Della Maddalena's opponents dropped out of the fight, the second right before weigh-ins, but a week later, she won by split decision against Bassil Hafez.

"I made some bad decisions during the fight, but they were good things to take back to the drawing board and improve upon," he adds. I fought three rounds and triumphed over hardship since I lost the first and had to win the next two.

But now I feel so much better.

The battle, according to Holland, exposed a few weaknesses in the Australian's game.

"It just looked like normal Jack," he adds. "Nothing out of the ordinary." "If you stick up for him, he will do what he wants to do. You can put a stop to him doing what he's doing if you shoot a take-down.

"I believe he boxes extremely well, and I'm curious to go in there and see what he's all about," she said. " It's going to be an exciting battle."