Jack Della Maddalena elevated his game when the lights were brightest, battering Belal Muhammad in a star-making performance on Saturday night to capture the UFC welterweight title and become the sport’s latest Australian champion in the main event of UFC 315 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Canada.
Della Maddalena didn’t give up a takedown until the fourth round against the stud wrestler and his striking looked utterly sensational, as he smashed Muhammad with 200 total shots over the five-round war of attrition. In the end, Della Maddalena earned judges’ scores of 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 to claim the belt, then acknowledged the monster potentially awaiting him next in UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who also doubles as Uncrowned’s No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
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“I think it’s a beautiful challenge. He’s pound-for-pound No. 1. I’m going to get him back for ‘Volk,’” Della Maddalena said of Makhachev, referencing the lightweight champ’s two prior wins over Della Maddalena’s Australian countryman, current UFC featherweight titleholder Alexander Volkanovski.
Della Maddalena (17-2) is now a perfect 8-0 in the UFC since debuting off the promotion’s Contender Series in 2022. The 28-year-old earned his title shot with a monster come-from-behind knockout of Gilbert Burns in his prior outing in March 2024, though he was not the UFC’s original plan for Muhammad; undefeated contender Shavkat Rakhmonov was initially scheduled to challenge for the belt at UFC 310, however a bone infection in Muhammad’s foot forced him to withdraw and a lingering injury to Rakhmonov subsequently rendered the Uzbek contender unable to make the date at UFC 315, allowing Della Maddalena to step in.
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And step in Della Maddalena did.
“JDM” showed out in his first UFC title opportunity, utilizing slick movement, brilliant defense and a relentless striking assault to keep Muhammad (24-4, 1 NC) uncomfortable from the opening bell. Della Maddalena, 28, diligently owned the center of the cage in the early rounds and refused to give Muhammad an opening to shoot for takedowns along the fence. All the while, “JDM” continually caught — and bloodied — Muhammad with long jabs, hard left hands and bone-rattling uppercuts.
With Muhammad sensing he was behind, the champ tried to dial up the pace and get reckless in the championship rounds. And while the tactic worked to some degree — Muhammad landed 3-of-5 takedowns in the final two frames and nearly closed Della Maddalena’s right eye with punches — “JDM” seemingly had an answer at every turn, showcasing tremendous get-ups with explosive effort while refusing to slow the endless procession of offense flying in Muhammad’s direction.
“Coming in there against someone like Belal with that sort of pressure wrestling, I knew I had to be smart,” Della Maddalena said. “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.
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“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.”
Della Maddalena’s victory now opens the door for Makhachev to potentially vault up a division and challenge for the welterweight title — a long-held goal of the lightweight champ. Makhachev is friends and training partners with Muhammad, and thus was likely going to stay at lightweight for a different champion vs. champion showdown — against former featherweight king Ilia Topuria — had Muhammad successfully defended his title on Saturday night.
“Time to become a double champion,” Makhachev wrote on social media after UFC 315’s main event.
Muhammad’s loss ends an 11-fight unbeaten stretch that dated back to 2019 and culminated in a lopsided upset victory over Leon Edwards this past July to capture the welterweight strap.
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In the evening’s co-main event, one of the greatest women’s combatants of all time and Uncrowned’s No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Valentina Shevchenko (25-4-1), continued her 22-year MMA run by edging past Manon Fiorot (12-2) to notch the first title defense of her second reign as women’s flyweight champion. All three judges scored the contest 48-47 for Shevchenko.
Catch full UFC 315: Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena results and highlights below, as well as Uncrowned’s round-by-round play-by-play for the final seven bouts of the night.
Main Card
Welterweight championship: Jack Della Maddalena def. Belal Muhammad via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46)
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Featherweight: Aiemann Zahabi def. Jose Aldo via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) | Aldo retires
Women’s flyweight: Natalia Silva def. Alexa Grasso via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Lightweight: Benoit Saint Denis def. Kyle Prepolec via submission (arm-triangle choke) at 2:35 of R2 | Watch finish
Prelims
Welterweight: Mike Malott def. Charles Radtke via TKO (punches) at :26 of R2 | Watch finish
Women’s flyweight: Jasmine Jasudavicius def. Jessica Andrade via submission (rear-naked choke) at 2:40 of R1 | Watch finish
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Light heavyweight: Modestas Bukauskas def. Ion Cutelaba via split decision (27-30, 30-27, 29-28)
Light heavyweight: Navajo Stirling def. Ivan Erslan via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-27)
Early prelims
187-pound catchweight: Marc-Andre Barriault def. Bruno Silva via KO (elbows) at 1:27 of R1 | Watch finish
Featherweight: Daniel Gustavo Santos def. Jeong Yeong Lee via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Bantamweight: Bekzat Almakhan def. Brad Katona via TKO (punches) at 1:04 of R1 | Watch finish