Bassil Hafez performed way beyond expectations in his short-notice promotional debut against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC on ESPN 49, but ultimately didn’t have enough in the tank to secure the upset.
After Hafez (8-4-1 MMA, 0-1 UFC) had a strong start to the welterweight fight after stepping up on five days’ notice, Della Maddalena (15-2 MMA, 5-0 UFC) closed the fight with some heavy damage and convinced the judges at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas to avoid him with a split decision win. The scores were 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.
“I thought it could go either way,” Della Maddalena said in his post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier. “When I heard it was a split, the judges don’t always make good decisions, so, I thought I had a good shot.”
