Fans React to Shocking Size, Physique Difference Between Della Maddalena & Islam Makhachev

On Saturday, the 15th of November, Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev will clash inside Madison Square Garden in one of the most highly anticipated UFC welterweight title fights of all time. Not only is this fight the biggest of 2025 so far in the UFC, it is also an extremely intriguing stylistic match-up and the MMA world has plenty of differing opinions and predictions on how it is going to go down.

Arguably the biggest topic of conversation coming into this fight is how Makhachev will adapt to fighting at 170 pounds, as opposed to 155 pounds in the lightweight division he dominated for years. Earlier this week, images of the Russian went viral on social media after he looked absolutely huge ahead of his welterweight debut and revealed he had been using creatine for the very first time.

Although Makhachev looked huge in those images, fans have seemingly changed their stance on the size debate between the Russian and Della Maddalena after seeing both fighters’ physiques at the official weigh-ins on Friday.

Jack Della Maddalena Looks Significantly Bigger than Islam Makhachev

Although the former UFC lightweight champion, Makhachev, is moving up in weight for this fight, on the scales, he looked incredibly fatigued and looked like the cut was very difficult for him, whereas Della Maddalena looked healthy and fresh. That wasn’t the only shocking thing about the images, but the Australian looked significantly bigger than Makhachev, although the images of him looking absolutely jacked went viral earlier this week.

See Della Maddalena and Makhachev’s physiques below:

Fans were shocked in the comments of that post, with one fan saying, “JDM is huge and way bigger than Islam.”

Makhachev will, of course, have time to put weight back on and rehydrate prior to the fight, but so will Della Maddalena, who will also be much bigger than he appeared at the weigh-ins.

UFC 322 airs as one of the last two pay-per-views on ESPN before the market-leading MMA firm transitions to its partnership with Paramount+. Other bouts on the card include Valentina Shevchenko’s flyweight title defense against Weili Zhang, Leon Edwards against Carlos Prates at welterweight, and Beneil Dariush vs Benoit Saint-Denis at lightweight.