Jack Della Maddalena

Giacomo "Jack" Della Maddalena (born 10 September 1996), also known by his initials JDM, is an Australian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former UFC Welterweight Champion. As of 18 November 2025, he is #1 in the UFC welterweight rankings and as of 9 December 2025, he is #14 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.

Early life and education

Giacomo Della Maddalena was born on 10 September 1996 in Perth, Western Australia, into a family of Australian and Italian descent as one of his grandfathers is from Sardinia. He attended St. Kevin's College in Melbourne, before returning to Perth and completing school at Aquinas College. While at St Kevin’s he was a friend and classmate of Olympian and Australian Rugby sevens player Henry Hutchison. Della Maddalena is an avid supporter of the Australian national rugby union team (Wallabies) and the Fremantle Dockers in the Australian Football League.

He started playing rugby at the age of eight and represented his school from year six to year twelve. Influenced by his older brother Josh, Della Maddalena joined a boxing gym at the age of fourteen, using it to improve his fitness for the rugby season. He fell in love with the sport, and after his rugby career ended, he transitioned into full-time MMA training.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

He made his professional debut on 12 March 2016 against Aldin Bates, losing the contest via TKO in the 3rd round. He went on to lose his next fight against Darcy Vendy via submission in the first round, before accumulating a nine-fight winning streak whilst securing the Eternal Welterweight Championship and defending it four times.