UFC 315 from Montreal has it all - a welterweight champion, a great performance of all time, legends put down gloves and more.
During the main event, Australia's Jack Della Maddalena is not worried about becoming Belal Muhammad's first championship defense. He threw hard shots at Mohammed all night while professionally avoiding his attempt at elimination. By the end of the five rounds of battle, Della Maddalena ended up wearing a belt.
Women's lightweight champion Valentina Shevchenko did what she had done seven times before and successfully defended her champion Manon Fiorot. It's a superb performance that raises the questions of her greatest place in MMA history.
Speaking of the greatest, Hall of Fame member José Aldo retired again after losing to Aiemann Zahabi, his second defeat in three battles since last year's unretired. Do we look at the year he deserves?
Jeff Wagenheim, Andreas Hale and Brett Okamoto share their thoughts on these battles.
Della Maddalena has become the UFC champion so quickly that he has little time to work hard to get up to the second-tier rankings. He fought the top 5 opponents on Saturday at UFC 315 after joining the promotion in 2022. But in terms of championship ambitions, this is the only person who really matters 170 pounds: the champion. Della Maddalena beat Muhammad to beat Muhammad, beat him 8-0 in the UFC and extended his overall winning streak to 18.
Della Maddalena soon handed over the narrative to his first championship defense, which seemed to be tilting towards lightweight champion Islam Makhachev. If Mohamed wins, the UFC will move in a different direction, as Mohamed has trained with Makhachev and the two oppose fighting each other. But Della Maddalena eliminates this complexity - and sets up the resentment game that one might describe.
Della Maddalena is from Perth, Australia, making him Australia's third UFC champion, behind middleweight Robert Whittaker and lightweight Alexander Volkanovski. The latest champion will begin his domination by trying to retake Australia from Makhachev, a man who defeated Volkanovski twice.
"It's a beautiful challenge. He's the first pound of a pound." "I'm going to bring it back for Volker."
If he does this, there will still be welterweight challenges, first of all, the undefeated Shavkat Rakhmonov, who lined up in this title but is recovering from injury.
Della Maddalena's outstanding performance against Muhammad was largely due to his sharp boxing but was helped by a strong defensive defense. Muhammad won nine titles in the battle last July when he won the title from Leon Edwards, and he made only three attempts when Leon Edwards won the title. This made Della Maddalena's striking Wheelhouse fight cause him to go to work and bleed Mohammed. He can do this with Makhachev, who is slick in wrestling and standing? There will definitely be an opposition to the new champion, but it's nothing new to someone who won't even be here because of another fighter's injury - but emphasize that he belongs to him. - Wagenheim
This is because her greatness is so familiar that it is to take Shevchenko for granted. The 37-year-old went through a tough war of churn to maintain her lightweight title against Fiorot, proving that she remains the queen of the mountain. Her outstanding career was so noble that winning another contender was seen as a routine. But Shevchenko stopped Fiorot's 12-game winning streak and added another name to her portfolio. She went on to win a record career with a 10th title victory and tied Nunes with the biggest effort in UFC women's history. Not to mention that she is now the oldest fighter who can defend her title at a lower weight class than the middleweight.
Hopefully she will welcome the challenge of Straw Weight champion Zhang Weili next. Defeating another woman considered one of the great men would bring her closer to Amanda Nunes, the greatest female mixed martial artist ever. Although the battle far exceeds the weight level she likes, Shivshenko is often forgotten as the woman who pushes Nurens to the limit twice.
Narns is expected to retire, with the winner of the women's bantamweight title battle between Julianna Peña and Kayla Harrison on June 7, and may meet with Nunes and Shevchenko for the third time, rather than just the first-tier World Championships.
The dream scene will allow Shevchenko to defend her championship against Zhang and get the final shot at Nunes if she can regain the blistering title. But even if the latter is not achieved - there are still many obstacles to get there - Shevchenko still cements his greatness. - Hale
When it comes to promotions, UFC is pure creativity, okay? No one can debate this. UFC has been growing exponentially over the years, and Dana White’s vision for the company has been proven over and over again. That said, I don't understand what happened to Jose Aldo.
The Brazilian legend retired last year and had another match, with the promotion eventually putting him against Jonathan Martinez, Mario Bautista and Zahabi. Now, all thanks to all three fighters, but after fighting Aldo, did any of them really build his brand? Martinez lost, Bautista won a slow decision, Zahabi won a very interesting battle but didn't get him in a real way. In other words, fans have won one of the most popular names in the sport and he actually has some gas left in the tank, but now he's retiring after losing to Zahabi, what have fans really gained since they've come back?
If this comeback lasts only 12 months, doesn't the UFC think it's bigger? I know Dominick Cruz didn't end up fighting again, due to injuries during camp this year, but the company could have tried to book that. I do know to use him like anyone else, booking his numbers (a number one opponent) instead of names, but I don't. Docking is Good enoughbut is this the Aldo we want? I'd rather see the UFC find a way to get into the octagon with Sean O'Malley, who might not have beaten, but he shows he's enough to make it competitive. There will be rewards, victory or loss.
I think any way UFC does, the results are similar, but it feels like having the opportunity to do something more meaningful. Promotions are rare. - Okamoto