Della Maddalena outslugs Muhammad, wins title at UFC 315

Jack Della Maddalena defeated Belal Muhammad in a grueling five-round battle, earning a unanimous decision to become the new welterweight champion Saturday night in the main event of UFC 315 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Two judges scored the fight 48-47, while a third had it 49-46 for Della Maddalena.

Fighting out of Perth, Australia, Della Maddalena (18-2) was sharp in the striking department as he neutralized Muhammad’s forward pressure and outstruck his opponent 200-155. The war of attrition left both fighters battered and bruised, but Della Maddalena landed the bigger punches and avoided Muhammad’s takedowns, successfully stuffing six of his nine takedown attempts.

“Coming in there against someone like Belal, with that sort of pressure wrestling, I knew I had to be smart, and I couldn’t spend too much time on my back,” Della Maddalena said.

Della Maddalena was in the right place at the right time for the title opportunity. Originally scheduled to face Leon Edwards in March, Della Maddalena was pulled from that fight and placed into a title fight with Muhammad when Shavkat Rakhmonov was unavailable due to a lingering injury. Della Maddalena had been dealing with an injury of his own that had kept him out of action for over a year. He showed no signs of cage rust Saturday, landing 55% of his significant strikes.

Muhammad (11) and Della Maddalena (17) entered the fight riding double-digit unbeaten streaks, but it would be Della Maddalena who would extend his run with a scintillating performance in front of 19,786 fans who witnessed a fight far more exciting than many expected.

Muhammad’s self-imposed commitment to striking proved to be his undoing. He fought the early rounds almost exclusively on the feet and didn’t secure his first takedown of the fight until the fourth round. By then, it was too late as Della Maddalena had made his mark behind a crisp lead right hand and distance control.

The first round was fought exclusively on the feet, with Della Maddalena finding a home for the right hand early and briefly rattling Muhammad by putting one behind a head kick. But Muhammad’s forward pressure allowed him to land strikes of his own when he closed the distance.

Della Maddalena remained sharp in Round 2, maintaining control of the center of the Octagon and landing a lead right hand. On his first takedown attempt of the fight, Muhammad got in deep on Della Maddalena’s hips, but the Australian defended well and set the tone for the rest of the fight. This was in stark contrast to the Gilbert Burns fight last year, where Della Maddalena was taken down seven times in three rounds.

Without the threat of a takedown, Della Maddalena slid into a zone where he opted for quality over volume in Round 3 and avoided being overwhelmed by a hard-charging Muhammad.

Muhammad turned up the pressure in Round 4, but Della Maddalena ripped his opponent with counters and combinations to make him pay for barreling in and fended off takedown attempts. Undeterred, Muhammad rumbled forward and worked strikes in with some dirty boxing.

Eventually, Muhammad secured a takedown 90 seconds into the final round and had an opportunity to take control of the fight. However, Della Maddalena found an opening to spring back to his feet, where his brilliant striking wobbled Muhammad. But the champion refused to fold and took Della Maddalena down again. The challenger again made his way to his feet, and the two slugged it out until the close of the fight.

“I looked up at the clock and I saw 30 seconds left,” Della Maddalena said. “I thought I was ahead, but I wanted to keep pushing and take him out of there. I was gunning for a late finish, but he’s a tough dude. He’s not easy to put away.”

The win opens the door for lightweight champion Islam Makhachev to move up to welterweight and be the first fighter to challenge Della Maddalena for 170-pound gold in hopes of becoming a two-division champion. Makhachev was tied to a potential title defense against Ilia Topuria at UFC 317 next month but has stated that he is more interested in challenging for a championship in another weight class. It appears likely he will get his wish later this year.

Della Maddalena embraced the opportunity, seeing it as a chance to get redemption for countryman Alexander Volkanovski, who dropped two title bouts to Makhachev in 2023.

“I think it’s a beautiful challenge,” Della Maddalena said of what will be his first title defense. “He’s pound-for-pound No. 1. I’m going to get it back for Volk.”