JDM Takes Over UFC Vegas 77 Co-Main Event

UFC Vegas 77 has a new co-main event, despite the best efforts of that hungry snake.

Surging welterweight prospect Jack Della Maddalena collides with short-notice replacement Bassil Hafez on ESPN and ESPN+ this Sat. night (July 15, 2024) at APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada. Hafez takes over for not one, but two UFC 290 combatants who never made it to the cage.

Just don’t expect “Badre” to roll over on command.

“I know that a lot of people might doubt me, but doubt all you want,” Hafez told reporters at the UFC Vegas 77 media day (via MMA Junkie). “I’m showing up on short notice, I’m putting on a fight and I’m going to stake my claim in the UFC. I’m a hard-working fighter, a gritty fighter. I always try to put on a show for the fans and I always try to get the finish, and not get finished. I take pride in that, that I’ve never been finished. My goal is to fight Jack and beat Jack this Saturday, and prove that I deserve to be here. I believe I’m going to be the toughest opponent he’s fought yet.”

Hafez, 31, improved to 8-3-1 with a knockout victory over Evan Cutts at Fury FC 75 earlier this year. As for Maddalena, 26, his record improved to 14-2 with a first-round submission finish against Randy Brown at UFC 284 in Perth.

Maddalena is as high as -720 on some of the sportsbooks.

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MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC Vegas 77 fight card RIGHT HERE, starting with the ESPN/ESPN+ preliminary card bouts at 7 p.m. ET, followed by the ESPN/ESPN+ main card start time at 10 p.m. ET.

To check out the latest and greatest UFC Vegas 77 news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archives here and here. For the updated and finalized “Holm vs. Bueno Silva” fight card and ESPN/ESPN+ line up click here.