Jack Della Maddalena’s coach Ben Vickers reveals when he knew prized fighter was set for UFC glory

Ben Vickers knew from within a few months of Jack Della Maddalena hitting the mats of his Willetton gym Scrappy MMA that he was something special. And a decade later Vickers was proven correct after coaching Della Maddalena to WA sporting history when he won the UFC welterweight championship in Montreal on Sunday. Vickers retired from fighting himself in 2008 knowing he wasn’t every going to be a world champion, but was determined to coach one and in Della Maddalena he found the perfect prodigy. “I made the decision to stop fighting because I knew I wasn’t going to be a world champion, so I committed to coaching because I believed I could coach one and I made the right call,” Vickers told The West Australian. “It was a month or two in, just watching him. He was in every day which is weird for a beginner, but he was in everyday going hard and getting better at a fast rate. “It’s everything he exhibits, the confidence, the cool, calm and collected demeanour and obviously the talent and the mentality has always been second to none. “It’s the way he picks things up and implements them into his game immediately, I just think when you’ve been doing something for a long time you just know you’re on to something and Jack was just that guy. “I watched him have his first fight in an inter-club and he was just a terror, and I was like ‘not only is he good in the gym but he can actually output and execute’ which is something I could never do.” Fast track 10 years and Della Maddalena (18-2) went from one of the hottest prospects on then regional fight scene to an incredible seven-fight win streak which culminated in a title shot against Belal Muhammad (24-4) at UFC 315. After a gruelling five rounds the winner was obvious, with Della Maddalena controlling the fight on the feet, stopping the wrestler from taking him to the ground and ensuring he would become the first West Australian to hold UFC gold. Vickers said he saw a different Della Maddalena in the lead up to the fight which gave him confidence they were bringing the belt to Perth. “At the weigh in, I’ve never seen Jack that intense before and just his energy around the last few days of fight camp,” he said. “I did a pad session with him on Wednesday night and he didn’t hit the pads, he hit me mostly and he was just uncontrollable. He pulled himself off the pad session and started hitting the bag. Jack was just furious and wanted to get in there. “This story feels like it’s been written for a decade. This week I was never nervous, I backed Jack in all the way against anyone but the way the training went I knew we were going to do it.” While Della Maddalena is now a household name around the world, Vickers has also grabbed attention on social media for his speech to the fighter ahead of the fifth and final round of the victory which was caught on the broadcast. “You are not f…ing tired alright, five minutes to realise all your f…ing dreams. Let’s go, safety first, stay focused and keep pinging the c…,” is what Vickers told Della Maddalena. Vickers said while he was aware of the attention both he and Della Maddalena were more focused on fighting than fame. “I think there’s a T-shirt doing the rounds, but in the moment you say what comes to your mind,” he said. “That is me to a T, I’m an honest, forthright and up front person and I speak my mind at all times. “If that’s what I was thinking, that’s what I said, and it seemed to work.” Della Maddalena’s victory is already having an impact on the MMA scene in WA, with Vickers saying he has already had several new members sign up. “I picked up my phone and I had a couple of new members join up and the leads have been coming in,” he said. “It won’t change my gym, it might grow it but it definitely won’t change the ethos of the ethic or the morals and the way that I like people to be. “I’m not going to have a million members, I’m not going to dilute the quality of the person let alone the quality of the athlete that comes into my gym. We’ve already spoken about it as a team that we need to be super careful now about who’s come in and monitor that, but it’s a good problem to have.” Winning the championship is one thing, defending it is a whole different world for Della Maddalena who is now going to be the hunted. Vickers doesn’t have any concerns for the 28-year-old though, knowing that after a short break with family Della Maddalena will be straight back in the gym honing his craft. “Jack loves the gym more than he love to fight so he’ll be back in the gym as soon as he’s home,” he said, “We will give him some time off to let him heal up because it was a hard, gruelling fight. “But Jack will be straight back into the gym as soon as he’s back in Perth I’d say and when they tell us a date and the victim, we’ll get ready, get to work, make a plan and beat the next person.”

Jack Della Maddalena’s coach Ben Vickers reveals when he knew prized fighter was set for UFC glory

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