Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn't care what the critics say; Jack Della Maddalena deserves respect.

In case there is a question about how seriously Islam Makhachev and company took preparation for Jack Della Maddalena, Nurmagomedov's praise is telling.

"Islam is on top of his game last five years," Nurmagomedov recently said in an interview with Josh Thomson. "He was champion at lightweight. For long time, he was contender. People know him the last five years, he was on top. But JDM, he just come. He just win his biggest fight in his life against Belal, and people don't know him. But the way how he shows his skills, I think he's very, very tough opponent for us. That's why we trained so hard. We just finished last sparring yesterday. It was 11 weeks of very hard training. Islam is ready to go. We expect a very tough fight against JDM. We give him credit, and we know he's a tough guy."

Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) aims to capture a second UFC weight class title Saturday at UFC 322 when he battles Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) for the welterweight strap at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Recent video shows Makhachev has certainly bulked up for the bout. Nurmagomedov said Makhachev never weighed more than 200 pounds, but that his bulking began immediately after his January win over Renato Moicano at UFC 311.

"Honestly, he was lifting," Nurmagomedov said. "He was preparing for this fight to move to welterweight. After right when he finished his fight in January… after he begin this. Last six, seven months, he was putting on weight a little bit. He never was more than 200."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Khabib Nurmagomedov: Put respect on Jack Della Maddalena's name

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