Australian UFC star Jack Della Maddalena has ruled himself out of fighting in Perth later this year after being hit by a series of infections in his surgically repaired arm.
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Della Maddalena broke his left forearm during the early stages of his third-round knockout victory over Gilbert Burns on March 10.
The 27-year-old had surgery the following week, confident he would be ready to fight at UFC 305 in Perth on August 18.
But complication after complication shattered those dreams, with Della Maddalena sharing the bad news on Instagram on Wednesday.
"Ten days (after surgery) my wound had began splitting, which was indicative of infection," Della Maddalena wrote.
"Went in for surgery 2 as believed to be infection present, bone cleaned, plate replaced, stayed in hospital for 9 days on IV antibiotics then moved to oral antibiotics.
"Thought the infection was under control, the wound itself had a couple of abscesses pop up over a 5 week period which had been cut and drained, which had bacteria present.
"Had a further surgery yesterday to remove infected tissue and unfortunately some infected bone. I am going to have a further surgery or two to remove further infected tissue over the next week."
Della Maddalena said he was shattered to miss out on fighting in front of his home-town crowd in August.
"(It's) a tough pill to swallow," he wrote.
"At the moment I am focused on recovery, ridding my body of infection and allowing the bone to mend.
"Planning to get my arm back to 100%, which if all goes well will be in 12 weeks time.
"I am still motivated to compete before the year's end in the fight I believe is the toughest and makes the most sense."
Della Maddalena boasts a perfect 7-0 record since making his UFC debut in 2022.
His overall record is 17-2, including 12KOs.
Leon Edwards is the current welterweight champion, with Della Maddalena ranked sixth in the world.
Australian Associated Press
