Jack della Maddalena adapts to the new fame, attention and responsibility that is accompanied by champion status in the UFC.
This is after the recent UFC 315 Pay-per-View in Montreal, Canada, where Della Maddalena Belal Muhammad made up to the Vigor to take the Welterweight title.
The result marked the highlight of the unbeaten rise of the Australian from UFC newcomer to champion, after he moved to 8-0 in the promotion.
Now the striking specialist will shift his focus to ensure that his title rule is longer than that of Muhammad, who ended Della Maddalena in the very first defense of the Palestinian American.
In that respect, the new champion recently sent a few words of wisdom from a friendly face.
Photo by Cooper Neill/Zuffa LLC
Robert Whittaker tells Jack della Maddalena how to deal with UFC champion
Among those who watched with joy while Della Maddalena won the UFC title at Welterweight was Robert Whittaker, a colleague -Australian highlight that competed on MMA's largest stage.
Whittaker knows what is needed not only to achieve the top, but to retain a presence after he had held UFC Gold in 2017 and 2018 before he has since stayed in the top five of the middleweight.
With that in mind, 'The Reaper' is undoubtedly placed well to give some advice when his countryman starts a new journey – and he did that exactly during a recent appearance on the submission radio.
“Everyone is different. I think a big thing for me was the recovery of goals,” said Whittaker.
“That is a huge thing. It is a big thing that many champions – boys who reach the top of the game, boys who get the belt around their waist – struggle to do.
“They have worked and they have become their entire career to make their way to the peak of the sport. Then they will reach it and they are a bit uncertain, not knowing where the next goal is, which has had them in the gym six days a week.
“I think having goals and setting goals is super important for every champion,” concluded Whittaker.
Robert Whittaker wants to become a member of Jack della Maddalena as a reigning Australian champion
Although Whittaker's own experience as UFC champion in the past is more than six years, the 34-year-old remains in the pursuit of a second title government.
'The Reaper' has not forced to have a belt since a defeat against Israel Adesanya in their Rematch 2022. The loss of Whittaker for the then Future Champion Dric Du Plessis in a title eliminator briefly stopped his momentum.
And while successive victories over Paulo Costa and Ikram Aliskerov de Australian have put back on the CUSP of a title shot, a crushing entry against Khamzat Chimaev has again left 'Bobby Knuckles' to bounce back.
If he wants to keep his hope to join Della Maddalena and Alexander Volkanovski as reigning UFC champions of Down Under Down, Whittaker Reinier De Ridder must beat.
A collision between the two was recently announced as the most important event of UFC Abu Dhabi on July 26.