Australian Jack Della Maddalena will have to go back to the drawing board after his first UFC title defence ended in a crushing loss to modern-day great Islam Makhachev at Madison Square Garden.

Makhachev, who vacated his lightweight crown to rise to welterweight, entered Saturday night's (Sunday AEDT) bout on a 15-fight winning streak and looking to become a two-division champion.

Della Maddalena was confident he could fight his way out of Makhachev's grappling prowess, but it wasn't the case in front of a packed New York crowd.

Makhachev took Della Maddalena down in each of the five rounds, with more than 18 minutes of the 25-minute fight resulting in Makhachev dominating his opponent on the canvas.

Although Della Maddalena fought hard to avoid being submitted, he had to rely on the

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