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Marc Raimondi, ESPN Staff Writer
Jack Della Maddalena has an opponent. Again.
The top UFC welterweight prospect will fight UFC newcomer Bassil Hafez on Saturday at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas, sources told ESPN on Monday, confirming a report by MMA reporter Ariel Helwani.
Hafez is Della Maddalena’s third potential opponent in the span of eight days.
Della Maddalena was initially scheduled to fight Sean Brady at UFC 290 last Saturday, but Brady was forced to withdraw less than a week before the fight because of septic bursitis in his left elbow.
UFC newcomer Josiah Harrell was then tabbed to replace Brady. But a required prefight MRI revealed Harrell had a previously undiagnosed brain disease called moyamoya. The UFC immediately pulled him from the bout.
Harrell will require a future brain procedure, according to his manager Maurice Blanco of First Round Management.
Della Maddalena, 26, did not go home to Australia after learning his fight was canceled. He remained in Las Vegas, hoping to get the call against a new foe. And that opponent will be Hafez.
Della Maddalena (14-2) is 4-0 in the UFC with four first-round finishes and is coming off a first-round submission win over Randy Brown at UFC 284 in February.
Hafez (8-3-1) is the Fury FC welterweight champion, winning the title in February. The 31-year-old, who fights out of Pennsylvania, is also the former Cage Fury FC welterweight champion.