PERTH, Australia -- Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has paid boom Australian prospect Jack Della Maddalena the ultimate compliment as he prepares to fight in his hometown, declaring that the welterweight has the best boxing in the UFC.
Della Maddalena will on Sunday morning [AWST] take his place on the main card of UFC 284 (from 6 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN+ PPV) when he faces Randy Brown, the West Australian certain to feel the boisterous home support for what is his first UFC fight on home soil.
Having won each of his UFC fights with round-one stoppages to date, earning ESPN's men's rookie of 2022 in the process, Della Maddalena has already been touted as the next big MMA star to emerge from Australia. And Bisping is clearly in that camp, the Brit a huge fan of Della Maddalena's stand-up game.
"I'm not just saying this because we're in Perth, Jack Della Maddalena, I think he's got the best the boxing in the UFC," Bisping told ESPN.
"He's three in a row, all first-round stoppages, he's so good to watch and he's such a lovely guy, so chilled and down to earth, but in the Octagon he is an absolute monster.
"He's got future champion written all over him."
Della Maddalena barely raised a sweat in his three UFC victories in 2022, securing TKO stoppages of Pete Rodriguez, Ramazan Emeev and Danny Roberts inside three-and-a-half minutes of the first round on each occasion.
While hugely satisfied with his accomplishments from 2022, Della Maddalena says he is much more than just a stand-up fighter and knows he must be more rounded to continue his climb up the welterweight rankings.
"I consistently work every day on my skills, I've got a lot more weapons, I feel like I've added weapons that I haven't even been able to show from months ago," Della Maddalena told ESPN.
"I'm building the arsenal and I'm ready to come out and throw everything I've got at Randy."
But the Australian also acknowledged Brown represents a step up in quality this weekend.
"I think he is definitely my toughest opponent, which is what I want, I want a tougher opponent each time," Della Maddalena told ESPN.
"I think I can damage him, I think if I get after him and start damaging him from the get-go, I can take him out. I think I can get him out of there before the three rounds.
"He's obviously very tall, I've got to be careful of the long weapons, but I think I can get to the inside and do some damage."
While Della Maddalena has earned a lot of the pre-fight plaudits, Brown himself is riding a four-fight winning streak. And the Jamaican is confident he can do a job on Della Maddalena, and he is more than happy to spoil the local boy's party in Perth.
"They can't fight for him, them not liking me doesn't matter to me, you cannot like me all you want but you're gonna love me after my performance," Brown said when asked if he was ready to be the most hated man at UFC 284.
"And I understand it, but at the end of the day it's just boos. People always says that, especially when I fought in Brazil...but it's just people yelling. If he wants them to yell they can yell and boo me, that's fine. But a fight's a fight, they can't fight for him."
Describing Della Maddalena as a "great fighter with a ton of potential", Brown knows he is combatting more than just the hometown crowd in Perth. Still, the Jamaican said he was getting Della Maddalena "at the right time."
But the Australian shares the belief Bisping and others have in his ability and sees a win over Brown as only the launching pad of a bumper 2023.
"Consistent fights, that what's I'm after this year," Della Maddalena told ESPN. "Honestly the next fight I want to start cracking into the top-15 rankings, get a number next to my name and keep pushing.
"I think after this fight there will be no question [I belong in the top 15], I think if I can handle Randy with ease there'll be no questions that I deserve to be in the top echelon of the welterweight division."