All that leads to his growing reputation as one of the best prospects to ever come out of Australia, and as the last fight before the pair of title bouts, the hype is building even more. You wouldn’t know it, however, talking to Della Maddalena. He is as calm in regular conversation as he is in the pocket and carries the unflappable confidence of a man riding a 13-fight winning streak.
“I don’t really take too much notice of all that stuff because it, at the end of the day, doesn’t really change much,” he said. “It’s awesome. You really get that appreciation. It’s cool. But yeah, hopefully with eyes on me I’m going to come in and fight hard on Sunday.”
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He has his tallest task yet in Brown, who has grown up in the Octagon. Fourteen of his 20 professional fights have come under the UFC banner, and after a few speed bumps, he comes into this matchup on a four-fight win streak.
Brown, who is just 32 years of age, has aspirations for the Top 15, as well, and happily embraces the challenge of taking out the hometown guy six years his junior.
Della Maddalena acknowledges the jump in competition level this matchup represents, but it’s also exactly the kind of fight he wants after a perfect rookie season.
