Jack Della Maddalena’s plans for a home date are off.
The proud Australian fighter, currently No. 5 at welterweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, had hoped to compete at UFC 305 in Perth, Australia, on Aug. 17, but an arm infection has removed the possibility of Della Maddalena competing at that event.
Maddalena shared the details of his situation on social media, explaining that complications arose after a pair of surgeries.
“Had surgery on my arm one week after [UFC 299],” Della Maddalena wrote. “Ten days later my wound had began splitting, which was indicative of infection. Went in for surgery 2 as believed to be infection present, bone cleaned, plate replaced, stayed in hospital for nine days on IV antibiotics then moved to oral antibiotics. Thought the infection was under control, the wound itself had a couple of abscesses pop up over a five-week period which had been cut and drained which had bacteria present.”
In additional slides showing footage of his surgery and the aftermath, Della Maddalena showed how an abscess was removed, with the procedure leaving a “messy hole” in his arm. Both tissue and bone were also removed to eliminate the infection, with more surgery to come.
Della Maddalena is coming off of the biggest win of his career, a third-round knockout of one-time UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns. He is 7-0 in the UFC, with his first four wins for the promotion all coming inside of a round.
Though Della Maddalena was not booked to fight at UFC 305, he had hoped to sign on for a matchup that would let him make the walkout to the octagon in front of fans in his home country.
“Unfortunately, this means I won’t be competing at UFC 305 in Perth,” Della Maddalena wrote. “Which is a tough pill to swallow. At the moment I am focused on recovery, ridding my body of infection and allowing the bone to mend. Planning to get my arm back to 100 percent, which if all goes well will be in 12 weeks’ time. I am still motivated to compete before the year’s end in the fight I believe is the toughest and makes the most sense.”