Jack Della Maddalena sees fight with Josiah Harrell axed from UFC 290, removed from card

For the second time in a week, Jack Della Maddalena has been left opponent-less for his highly-anticipated return to the Octagon at UFC 290 this weekend, with the highly-touted Australian seeing his short-notice clash with Josiah Harrell cancelled ahead of tomorrow’s event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, 

Maddalena, who boasts a 14-2 professional record, began hsi journey to UFC 290 this weekend tied to an exciting pairing with the returning, Sean Brady – until an injury suffered by the latter forced his withdrawal from the clash.

Jack Della Maddalena sees second UFC 290 clash cancelled this week

As a result, despite finding himself linked with a short-notice clash with Kevin Holland, Jack Della Maddalena had since booked a fight with LFA veteran, Harrell, however, as per an official press release from UFC, the bout has since been axed from the card.

And according to Harrell’s manager, Mauricio Blanco, a pre-fight brain MRI resulted in a moyamoya syndrome diagnosis for the former, with the welterweight now set to undergo a brain procedure.

“Per his manager Mauricio Blanco: Josiah Harrell’s #UFC290 pre-fight brain MRI may have saved his life,” MMA Junkie reporter, Nolan King tweeted. “He was diagnosed with moyamoya syndrome, a rare disease that results in blocked arteries at the base of the brain. He will undergo a brain procedure soon.” 

In the midst of a promotional-perfect four-fight winning run since landing in the promotion, Jack Della Maddalena, a product of Dana White’s Contender Series, most recently landed a first round win over Randy Brown back in February, securing an opening round rear-naked choke submission win on home soil at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia.

Prior to that, Maddalena had kickstarted his UFC tenure with a trio of stunning knockout wins over Pete Rodriguez, Ramzan Emeev, as well as British veteran, Danny Roberts. 

Tomorrow’s UFC 290 pay-per-view card features a featherweight title unification headliner between champions, Alexander Volkanovski, and interim gold holder, Yair Rodríguez.