Ignore the Islam domination for a moment: Della Maddalena is still a very well-rounded athlete. A Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt with tricky scrambles and getups, Della Maddalena is a combination puncher first and foremost. His body work is nasty, and “JDM” has finished 12 opponents via knockout. For a moment, we’re going to discount Della Maddalena’s underrated kicking and focus on the big picture: this is a Muay Thai vs. boxing matchup. As the boxer, Della Maddalena wants to work inside of Prates’ kicks and long left hands. If he can close that distance while keeping his guard high, Della Maddalena will then be in position to build his own combinations and ideally catch Prates pulling away.

Prates hits unbelievably hard for a fairly lanky Welterweight. Even his glancing punches can separate opponents from their senses, and then his opposition must also consider the spinning elbows, stepping knees and powerful kicks into the open side. This is, of course, easier said than done. Perhaps the most important adjustment the Australian can make is to emphasis his feints and false starts. Ian Garry did tremendous work in dulling Prates’ timing not only with his lateral movement — which applies less for “JDM” here — but also with his shoulder and hip fakes. Della Maddalena should be looking to draw out offense from Prates to counter, which will then make Prates more reluctant to sit down on his counter shots.