After four frustrating surgeries and countless doses of antibiotics, rising Australian UFC welterweight star Jack Della Maddalena can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Della Maddalena was on a high after earning a TKO win over Gilbert Burns in March to snare the finest win of his fledgling career.
A broken left forearm suffered during that fight was initially expected to sideline Della Maddalena for no more than 12 weeks.
But what should have been a straightforward surgery ended up turning into a nightmare, with infection after infection delaying his recovery and forcing him to go under the knife another three times.
Five months after the initial injury, Della Maddalena is still sporting a protective brace.
But the 27-year-old is close to throwing his first punch with his surgically-repaired left arm.
"I ended up having four surgeries since March," Della Maddalena said.
"The last surgery I had was about 14 weeks ago, so I'm on the mend. I think that's it for surgeries.
"I'm still on the antibiotics, but hopefully in the next week or so I can drop them.
"I don't feel too bad. I've just got to take it slow. I don't want to rush anything.
"What I'm hoping is by the start of October I can start sparring again, and then fight at the end of the year."
Extended lay-offs are nothing new for Della Maddalena.
"I broke my hand and I had a plate in there earlier in my career, in 2018 I think," he said.
"I had two surgeries on my hand. They wanted to do a third one - so kind of a similar situation (to what I'm going through now).
"I feel like it was actually a good break, I could focus on other areas of training in that time.
"I feel like I improved in that time."
When Della Maddalena fights again - whether that be in December, January or February - he hopes to land a big fish that will bring him one step closer to a title fight.
For now, he will be an interested onlooker when UFC 305 hits Perth's RAC Arena on Sunday.
Della Maddalena predicts Israel Adesanya will defeat current champion Dricus du Plessis to win the middleweight crown.
"Izzy is a precision striker with very nice striking," he said.
"Dricus is a bit more wild and sloppy, he's like a tank.
"But I reckon Izzy can take him out. I feel like Izzy rises to those big occasions."
Della Maddalena is also backing hometown hero Steve Erceg to get the job done against Kiwi Kai Kara-France in their flyweight bout.
