That’s according to Stephen Thompson.
Jack Della Maddalena captured the welterweight strap by upsetting Belal Muhammad atop the UFC 315 pay-per-view (PPV) event last May in Montreal and is expected to make his first 170-pound title defense against former lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev.
That means the rest of the welterweight title hopefuls, including Top 5 contenders Kamaru Usman and Sean Brady, just to name a few, will have to wait until early 2026 for their crack at the division crown while Della Maddalena and Makhachev handle their business.
If it was former title challenger Stephen Thompson, he would be “very upset.”
“Well, number one, if I was in the Top 5, I would be very upset that this guy who just got the title is already looking at somebody from a different division,” Thompson told MMA Fighting. “If it was me who, if I’m in the Top 5, more deserving than this guy coming up, like I’ve been waiting here. Where’s the Shavkat Rakhmonov’s, where’s the Ian Garry’s, Usman, who’s been in the mix, is back in the mix, if you will, after beating [Joaquin] Buckley. Like these guys, I think, are more deserving of it because they’ve been there. If it was me, I would want JDM to like fight at least one more time, or two more times before looking at somebody from a different weight class.”
Rakhmonov is sidelined with injury while Garry is ranked outside the Top 5.
“Now, I think it’s a good fight,” Thompson continued. “I think it’s a very tough fight for Islam Makhachev coming up. [Della Maddalena’s] a bigger guy, a guy with great takedown defense, and a guy who just won the title from somebody very similar to himself in Belal Muhammad. Cardio for days, strong grappling background. I do believe that Islam has a better striking than Belal does, so I think that would be interesting, but I think it’s a very tough fight for Islam, for sure.”
Thompson knows a thing or two about tough title fights.
“Wonderboy” returns to action in the UFC Nashville co-main event this weekend in “Music City” against Brazilian bruiser Gabriel Bonfim. “Wonderboy” could lose his spot in the official welterweight rankings with a loss to “Marretinha,” who is currently unranked.
To see who else is fighting at UFC Nashville click here.