Maddalena Upsets Belal To Become UFC Welterweight Champ
Jack Della Maddalena secured a major upset with a thrilling unanimous decision win against Belal Muhammad at UFC 315: 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.
Belal was making the first defense of his belt, which he secured with a win against Leon Edwards at UFC 304. Before the fight, there was much talk over Belal’s future plans. He had been linked with a move up to middleweight, with eyes on becoming a double champ. Meanwhile, Islam Makhachev was also being linked with a move to welterweight if Belal lost. Now that this has happened, Islam has said he will go up.
Maddalena’s Performance
Maddalena showed his intentions early on, with his stinging jab that was followed up with his leg kicks. Belal landed some right hands over the top, living up to his word that he would punch. However, Maddalena’s lateral movement allowed him to keep out of harm’s way early on.
His confidence grew going into the third round. Jack landed a crisp combination while using his feints to stop Belal from closing the gap. Belal resorted to what he does best by increasing his intensity. However, Jack prevented any takedowns. He buzzed Belal with a flurry in the fifth to set up a fight with Islam, who said he will move up.
“I think it’s a beautiful challenge. He’s pound-for-pound No. 1. I’m going to get him back for ‘Volk. Coming in there against someone like Belal with that sort of pressure wrestling, I knew I had to be smart. I couldn’t spend too much time on my back.
“I was expecting to spend a bit of time on my back, but I feel like I took my breath and then made a move. I looked up at the clock [in the final stretch run], I saw 30 seconds left, I thought I was ahead but I wanted to keep pushing. I wanted to take him out of there. I was going for a late finish, but Belal is the man. He’s a tough dude, he’s not easy to put away,” Maddalena said
Full Card Results
Jack Della Maddalena beat Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46) to win the UFC welterweight title
Valentina Shevchenko beat Manon Fiorot by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-47) to keep the UFC flyweight title
Aiemann Zahabi beat Jose Aldo by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Natalia Silva beat Alexa Grasso by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Benoit Saint-Denis beat Kyle Prepolec by arm-triangle choke (2:35 of round two)
Mike Malott beat Charles Radtke by KO (0:26 of round two)
Jasmine Jasudavicius beat Jessica Andrade by rear-naked choke (2:40 of round one)
Modestas Bukauskas beat Ion Cutelaba by split decision (27-30, 30-27, 29-28)
Navajo Stirling beat Ivan Erslan by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Marc-Andre Barriault beat Bruno Silva by KO (1:27 of round one)
Daniel Santos beat Lee Jeong-yeong by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Bekzat Almakhan beat Brad Katona by KO (1:04 of round one)
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