Preparing for a third title defence, Eternal welterweight Champion Jack Della (7-2) is a formidable force. In his home city of Perth, Western Australia, Della will face Glen Pettigrew (7-2) for the Eternal welterweight championship on February 29 at Eternal MMA 51.
Della and Pettigrew have met inside the cage before. Their previous fight was for the Reign welterweight championship in 2017. Spectators on that night witnessed an action-packed, albeit a shot one round bout. A fight in which both fighters were rocked on the feet but also had control of their opponent on the ground only to have them fight through it and return the fight back to the feet for more striking action. Ultimately, Della got the TKO victory with a sequence that included a head kick, knee to the head and punches.
Fighting out of Scrappy MMA and Fitness, Della shares that he is expecting a tough rematch with Pettigrew, who is currently riding a four-fight win streak.
“Both of us have developed. Glen is definitely better than he was in 2017. I’m expecting a similar kind of fight with his pressure orientated style. With his experience now, I’m prepared for Glen to be able to implement his game plan a little better than before.” Della told Fight News Australia.
Della is also on an impressive unbeaten streak that far surpasses his reign as the Eternal welterweight champion. Della has won his last seven fights in a row, claiming two titles and two title defences along the way. Four of those victories came against fighters that were unbeaten before meeting Della in the cage. Evidence of Della’s pressure style is the fact that all seven victories have come inside two rounds.
“I’m a pressure fighter too and I believe that I have grown a little more than Glen has. It will be a good fight to watch just from both of our styles. His pressure versus my pressure. It just depends who can last longer.”
Coming out of his last two fights with broken hands, Della’s explains that his preparations have not slowed down.
“I’m not one to take time off between fights. Even with broken hands, I kept training any way I could. It’s just what this sport can bring with the small gloves, but now my hands are 100 percent.
I understand how hard these fights are and how much work you have to put in. It’s been a really good camp, a bit shorter than usual. Rather than beating myself up over 10 weeks, it’s been nice to shorten it up and peak at exactly the right time. I feel ready.”
This will be the 10th professional fight for the 23-year-old and his fourth fight for the Eternal championship belt.
“I’m definitely keen to have an active year, stay healthy and stay ready. It’s not good to sit on the sidelines for as long as I have with the broken hands. I want to get three or four fights this year but I’m not going to set any crazy numbers as goals. I’m just going to stay fit and see what I can do.”
With such an impressive trail of fighters left in his wake, Della has eyes on him. However, Della himself is looking over the welterweight stocks of Australia and visualising his professional future.
“I’m not looking past Glen at all but I definitely do want to branch out and climb some other ranks, get some other titles. There are a lot of good welterweights in Australia, a few I’ve got my eye set on.
It’s good defending the belt and I’ve been really lucky with Eternal. They treat me really well but I definitely want to start testing myself against other champs that are higher ranked than me at the moment.”
Don’t miss Eternal MMA 51 Jack Della versus Glen Pettigrew 2 for the Eternal welterweight championship at HBF Stadium Perth on February 29. It is sure to be another exciting fight to be witnessed in person or on the UFC Fight pass app.
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