The UFC middleweight division has a new king whose name is Jack Della Maddalena.
Upcoming champion Belal Muhammad joined the fight, seeking his first championship defense, but faced a tough challenge in the form of a highly confident Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC). The welterweight championship battle became the main event of UFC 315 at the Bell Center in Montreal. After the final horn sounded, Della Maddalena unanimously announced the championship with 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 on Mohammed (24-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC).
Della Maddalena stepped up early and put pressure on the champion as the champion landed while the crowd shouted. After studying the opponent's movements, Mohamed began to start his attack. Della Maddalena looked comfortable on her feet and grew up with confidence after stopping Muhammad's first batting attempt.
The compelling exchange unfolded earlier in the second round, with both fighters connected to the clean product. Della Maddalena found a hard right-handed home, causing Muhammad's head to turn, but the champion continued to step up. Della Maddalena killed another batting attempt, but Muhammad landed on the exit. Della Maddalena still feels good, with some spinning strikes in the closing ceremony of the round.
Della Maddalena's beautiful combination begins the 3rd round. As the turn progresses, Mohamed chases the challenger across the octagon, but encounters a quick jab and an occasional two-fist combination. It's not all one-way traffic, but Mohammed can't land anything important to change the tone of the battle.
In the fourth round, Mohamed was committed to making more elimination attempts. The champion moved forward urgently, hoping to defeat the battle. This caused some intense exchange, but it was clearly Mohammed's best round, even though he was on the end of a part of a clean strike.
Just five minutes from Della Maddalena's game, Muhammad was under pressure more than before. This creates some intense and amazing moments of communication that seem to end at any time. Mohammed was finally able to complete the split of more than three minutes of work. After landing some ground and pounds, Della Maddalena exploded back to his feet, resuming a sharp strike, putting Mohammed on his swaying legs.
Della Maddalena took the sack, but was reversed, allowing Muhammad to temporarily defeat the attack on the ground. However, the battle will return to the stand, with Della Maddalena going to be on the championship-winning performance until the final horn.
In the fight, UFC CEO Dana White confirmed that the next move of lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will depend on the outcome of this major event. If Della Maddalena wins the title, Makhachev will challenge his second title from the lightweight division.
Daniel Cormier asked Della Maddalena about potential champion fights, and the Australian said he would welcome the challenge, an opportunity to avenge Alexander Volkanovski's losses.
"I think it's a beautiful challenge," Della Maddalena said. "He's the first pound of a pound. I'm going to get it back for Volker."
Della Maddalena became UFC champion in her eighth battle with the promotion, an opportunity after defeating Gilbert Burns, and the situation in which first-place contender Shavkat Rakhmonov could not compete with Muhammad.
Muhammad beat Leon Edwards at UFC 304, but the result also marks the end of a 10-win streak since Muhammad's unanimous decision against Geoff Neal in January 2019, including a no-match against Edwards.