-
Andreas Hale
Jack Della Maddalena defeated Belal Muhammad In an exhausting battle of five laps, winning a unanimous decision to become the new Welters weight champion on Saturday evening in the main UFC 315 event at the Bell Center in Montreal.
Two judges marked the 48-47 fight, while a third had 49-46 for Della Maddalena.
The struggle in Perth, Australia, Della Maddalena (18-2) was sharp in the strike department while he neutralized the pressure before Muhammad and exceeded his opponent 200-155. The war of attrition left the two fighters beaten and bruised, but Della Maddalena won the biggest punches and avoided the Dapuries of Muhammad, successfully filling six of his nine attempts to withdraw.
“Coming against someone like Belal, with this kind of fight against pressure, I knew that I had to be intelligent, and I could not spend too much time on my back,” said Della Maddalena.
Della Maddalena was in the right place at the right time for the title opportunity. Initially planned to cope Leon Edwards In March, Della Maddalena was withdrawn from this fight and was placed in a title fight with Muhammad when Shavkat Rakhmonov was not available due to a persistent injury. Della Maddalena had been confronted with an injury that had held her out of action for over a year. He did not show any signs of cage rust on Saturday, landing 55% of his significant strikes.
Muhammad (11) and Della Maddalena (17) entered the fight to conduct undefeated two -digit sequences, but it would be Della Maddalena who would extend his race with a sparkling performance in front of 19,786 fans who witnessed a much more exciting fight than many.
Muhammad’s self-imposed commitment to strike turned out to be his loss. He fought the first rounds almost exclusively on the feet and did not secure his first withdrawal from the fight to the fourth round. At that time, it was too late because Della Maddalena had made his mark behind a control of the right hand and the distance.
The first round was fought exclusively on the feet, with Della Maddalena finding a house for the right hand early and briefly making Muhammad, putting a kick. But the front pressure of Muhammad allowed him to attract his own strikes when he closed the distance.
Della Maddalena remained net 2, maintaining the center of the octagon and landing a right hand. During his first attempt to withdraw the fight, Muhammad entered deeply on the hips of Della Maddalena, but the Australian defended well and set the tone to the rest of the fight. It was in contrast striking with the Gilbert Burns Fight last year, where Della Maddalena was removed seven times in three laps.
Without the threat of disassembly, Della Maddalena slipped into an area where he opted for the quality on the volume around the turn 3 and avoided being overwhelmed by a hard muhammad.
Muhammad increased the pressure in Tour 4, but Della Maddalena tore her opponent with counters and combinations to make him pay for the heaps and pushed the withdrawal attempts. Without being discouraged, Muhammad scolded forward and worked with dirty boxing.
Finally, Muhammad obtained a 90 -second withdrawal in the final round and had the opportunity to take control of the fight. However, Della Maddalena found an opening to get back on her feet, where her striking shiny flicker Muhammad. But the champion refused to comply and pushed Della Maddalena. The challenger headed again on his feet, and the two slipped him until the end of the fight.
“I looked up at the clock and I saw 30 seconds to play,” said Della Maddalena. “I thought I was ahead, but I wanted to continue to push and get him out of there. I was talking for a late finish, but it’s a hard guy. It is not easy to store. “
Victory opens the door to a light champion Islam Makhachev To switch to Welters weights and be the first fighter to challenge Della Maddalena for the gold of 170 pounds in the hope of becoming champion with two divisions. Makhachev was linked to a defense of the potential title against Ilia Topuria At UFC 317 next month, but said it was more interested in contesting a championship in another weight category. It seems likely that he will get his wish later this year.
Della Maddalena took the opportunity, seeing her as a chance to obtain a redemption for Countryman Alexander Volkanovskiwho abandoned two title fights in Makhachev in 2023.
“I think it’s a great challenge,” said Della Maddalena about what will be his first defending defense. “He’s book for book n ° 1. I will recover it for Volk.”