Australian UFC fighter Jack Della Maddalena has garnered strong reactions from fans after he seemingly planned to host a fundraiser for his travel expenses ahead of his championship fight.
The 28-year-old is scheduled to fight for the UFC welterweight title at UFC 315 in May in Montreal, Canada, after No. 1 contender Shavkat Rakhmonov pulled out of the fight.
As reported by multiple outlets, Della Maddalena was scheduled to appear at a fundraiser for his own travel expenses in Perth, with the intention of paying for his entire team’s travel from Australia to Montreal.
“Come have a beer with Jack Della Maddalena,” an Australian restaurant called the Riverton Bar & Grill wrote on a since-deleted Instagram post.
“Jack will be fighting for the UFC welterweight championship in Montreal on the 10th of May and RBG is having a Fundraiser Dinner on the Monday the 14th of April for his team,” the post continued. “All profit from the tickets will go towards getting the full team out to Montreal to support Jack on his mission for UFC gold. A world title shot for Perth’s finest MMA son.”
The company then took its post a step further and criticized the UFC after revealing its tickets would start at $150.
“Believe it or not the UFC do not pay for anyone or anything but 6 nights accommodation and flights for 2. The rest of the team are expected to pay their own way.”
Strangely, the end of the post was written in first person, revealing it may have been provided by one of Della Maddalena’s team members:
“We will be taking the full team for this huge fight,” the post concluded.
As TalkSport reported, the flights for Della Maddalena’s listed team of four could cost thousands per person. That outlet estimated between $1,200-$7,700 per plane ticket, while Google Flights listed the cheapest roundtrip at $3,500.
Regardless of the price, fans were split in their reactions, with some saying this was evidence of the UFC not paying fighters enough.
“This is just said, it’s literally a title fight and the UFC won’t pay,” one fan reportedly wrote.
“Its absolutely insane that someone fighting for a ufc championship has to do fund-raisers to get their team to the fight,” another fan argued, according to BJPenn.com.
Other fans were not so forgiving of the Australian and said he makes more than enough to cover his trip and should pay out of his own pocket for his extended team to fly over.
“I don’t know if I side with JDM on this,” a fan pondered. “He’s not running his business well if this is what he’s going through. He’s not special or deserves special treatment over the rest.”
“Social media believes anything an account posts, disregarding how much the fight purse is or what the contract was that got [negotiated],” another sports fan wrote.
One fight fan called the fundraiser “pitiful,” and said the expenses were a “pathetic” reason to host such an event.
“Jack Della Maddalena having a fundraiser so his team can be there is pitiful. There’s literally hundreds of more important causes. What a pathetic thing to have a fundraiser for. I hope Belal ruins him.”
Just a couple of days after the backlash, the hosting venue announced it had canceled the event citing the fighter’s commitments.
“Unfortunately due to Jacks training commitments. The event will be postponed to after Jacks fight and when he brings the strap home! Thank you to who supported him. All ticket purchased will be refunded.”
The wording from the company was certainly strange and made no mention of the previous post that listed the event as a fundraiser.
Della Maddalena has not publicly posted any statements regarding the matter.
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