This past Saturday in the main event of UFC 315, the welterweight title was on the line. Belal Muhammad (24-4, 1 NC) was looking to defend his title against top contender Jack Della Maddalena (18-2).
After losing his first two professional bouts, Della Maddalena had won 17 in a row to earn this title shot on Saturday night. On the flip side, Muhammad hadn’t lost since 2019 on his way to becoming the champion. I figured that this was a great matchup for Muhammad if he fought with the right game plan and didn’t play JDM’s game.
Well, the fight on Saturday is exactly what Della Maddalena wanted. For the most part, Muhammad was content with standing and trading with Della Maddalena. While Muhammad did have success on the feet, it was Della Maddalena who was landing the bigger shots throughout. Despite that, it was still 2-2 on two scorecards entering the final round at UFC 315.
In that final round, Della Maddalena was able to badly rock and hurt Muhammad multiple times on the feet. Muhammad showed incredible toughness but that final round sealed the fight for Della Maddalena and he became the welterweight champion.
What’s next after UFC 315?
Dana White said earlier in the week that the main event result at UFC 315 would dictate International Fight Week in June. Right now, Ilia Topuria is tentatively scheduled to fight for the lightweight title. Islam Makhachev is the champion, but he’s wanting to move up and challenge for the welterweight title.
Makhachev didn’t want to move up and face Muhammad if he was the champion. However, now that JDM is the champion, Makhachev is planning on challenging for the welterweight title which means that Topuria is likely going to face Charles Oliveira for the interim lightweight title in June.
My guess is that the UFC will have Della Maddalena and Makhachev headline either the October PPV in Abu Dhabi or potentially an Australian PPV later this year. It’ll be a massive fight as Della Maddalena’s first title defense will come against the P4P king and the current lightweight champion.