Bassil Hafez discusses his UFC Vegas 77 Fight of the Night against Jack Della Maddalena
Bassil Hafez won over a lot of fans in his impressive UFC debut despite coming out on the losing end of a split decision.
Rising contender Jack Della Maddalena was originally slated to fight at UFC 290, but after his opponent pulled out on fight week, the UFC couldn’t make a last minute fight.
Instead, the UFC asked Maddalena if he would fight the following weekend at UFC Vegas 77 and he accepted.
Then the UFC asked Hafez if he would be interested in being apart of the roster and fighting Maddalena on short notice and he also accepted the fight.
Maddalena entered the fight last Saturday at No. 14 in the official UFC welterweight rankings and since he was fighting an unknown fighter, he entered the fight as the biggest betting favorite on the card.
We’ll those odds quickly dropped as the fight started.
Hafez showed heart and went right out with the impression of making a statement in his short noticed opportunity.
As soon as the referee said go, Hafez would secure a takedown and once Maddalena got back to the feet, Hafez would tee off on Maddalena with heavy shots and would get two more takedowns to win the round.
In the second round, Maddalena and Hafez would exchange heavy shots in what was a fight round to watch as a fan. Maddalena may of had a bit more success with the strikes, but Hafez would end up on top of Maddalena landing ground and pound as the round came to a close.
Finally, in the last round, both men traded shots, but Hafez would start to fade, but he did find his way back on top of Maddalena as the fight came to a close.
So far, Maddalena looked unstoppable, but Hafez made him look human. Hafez also showed that he has the talent to make a run in the UFC.
Following the great fight, Hafez spoke with MyMMANews about his fight with Maddalena, what’s next for him and his long term plans in the UFC.
You can watch his full interview in the video above.
