Only days after blasting his rival through a steel cage door, an American wrestler dubbed ‘Muscle Hamster’ is now ready to ruin Australia’s newest UFC success story.
On the eve of UFC 290 in Las Vegas, rising Ohio native Josiah Harrell has been parachuted in to face hyped Aussie welterweight Jack Della Maddalena.
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Initially, the 26-year-old Perth slugger was slated to throw down in a highly-anticipated bout against No.8 ranked Sean Brady.
The fight was set to be the biggest test yet for Della, the reigning UFC Rookie of the Year who is on a tear now stretching 14 straight wins, including four first-round finishes in the UFC.
However, with Brady suffering a nasty bout of Streptococcus B in his left elbow, UFC matchmakers were forced into a desperate scramble to keep JDM on a card also boasting countrymen Alexander Volkanovski, Rob Whittaker, Jimmy Crute and Shannon Ross.
Enter the Muscle Hamster.
Only a tick over two weeks ago, Harrell went viral during an LFA 160 main event against Mike Roberts, where he blasted a double-leg takedown in the third round that drove his opponent hard into the fence – then through it.
In bizarre scenes, the force of Harrell’s takedown was so strong it cracked the cage door wide open and sent the pair tumbling out and into the crowd.
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Incredibly, both men were unharmed and able to continue the bout, which Harrell (7-0) eventually won via punches from back mount.
The 24-year-old now takes a massive step up to make his UFC debut on less than a week’s notice — and against Maddalena (14-2), who is already being hyped as a future UFC champion.
Taking to Instagram, Brady said he was “crushed” after being forced to withdraw from the highly-anticipated UFC 290 fight, while also taking aim at the Aussie who accused him of ‘s***ing the bed’.
It followed Maddalena using the same platform to write two days earlier: “Brady has s*** the bed. Open challenge to anyone in the promotion. 170 – 185 International fight week.”
In response, Brady explained that despite having his elbow drained twice, and taking various courses of antibiotics, a surgeon had ruled him out of competing.
“To Jack, I’m sorry we won’t be able to get to share the cage together,” Brady wrote.
Volk warns Vegas: Boo me at your peril | 01:02
“I know you worked just as hard as me but as for saying ‘Brady s*** the bed’ I expect that from an internet troll, but not a fellow fighter himself, so shame on you and I hope you/none of your teammates have to go through this in the future. We’ll see each other someday soon.”
Harrell, meanwhile, will be looking to upset the ‘Next Big Thing’ of the Australian fight game, who is on a tear of 14 straight wins.
Speaking with MMA Fighting after his cage door tackle went viral, the American said he initially didn’t realise exactly what had happened.
“It didn’t hit me until the ref comes over and checks on me and goes, ‘We’re going viral’,” he laughed.
“And (then) I’m replaying it because everything happens so fast. I’m going, ‘Oh, s***.’”
Pushed on his memories of the incident, he continued: “We’re going, and you can see me beforehand point and talk to his coaches, and this is his third round.
“So I’m hearing his coaches, I’m hearing my coaches, his coaches are telling him to watch out for the things, or do certain things, and I’m just ADHD, so I’m listening to his coaches and I’m responding to them, and I’m like, ‘You probably should do that.’
“I’m talking to him and I’m hitting, so then I go point at the coaches, and I kind of move him towards the cage, just circling off, he lines up perfectly with the door.”