UFC 315 Major Occasion Fighters – Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena
Belal Muhammad makes an attempt to make the primary protection of his UFC welterweight title on Saturday, Might 10, when he faces Jack Della Maddalena in the principle occasion of the UFC 315 struggle card. Muhammad, who upset Leon Edwards in July 2024 to win the 170-pound UFC crown, is unbeaten in his previous 11 fights. Della Maddalena has not misplaced underneath the UFC banner and is 17-0 since opening his MMA profession with back-to-back losses. We take a look at betting odds, line motion, preview, picks, and predictions for the Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena struggle on the UFC 315 card.
The co-main occasion of the ESPN+ streaming PPV card finds UFC girls’s flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko placing her belt on the road in opposition to the No. 2 ranked Manon Fiorot.
UFC 315 takes place on Saturday, Might 10, from Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The primary card streams on ESPN+ pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and early prelims on ESPN+.
UFC 315 Battle Card Major Occasion: Belal Muhammad Vs. Jack Della Maddalena
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JULY 27: Belal Muhammad reacts after his victory in opposition to Leon Edwards of … Extra
Belal Muhammad (24-3-0-1) joined the UFC with an ideal 9-0 file. Not lengthy after Muhammad claimed the Titan FC welterweight crown, the UFC got here knocking. Muhammad signed with the promotion in 2016. On the time, he was 27. Bloody Elbow described him as, “Within the cage he’s largely a quantity puncher, tending to work on the edges of vary preserving a relentless jab going and dealing behind it. He does properly to work a kicking recreation in along with his boxing, and places some actual energy behind these kicks, however the focus is unquestionably on being a mix puncher. To that finish, Muhammad does a superb job feinting and altering rhythm, to maintain his opponent from guessing his timing too simply.
“Muhammad makes use of his footwork properly at vary, circling away, sustaining distance and never strolling himself into the pocket. As such he is acquired fairly stable takedown protection. His focus is on accuracy and timing, and he not often places himself in a foul place to be taken down. Simply due to his fashion, Muhammad hasn’t been a lot of a finisher thus far in his MMA profession, however he is acquired the sort of fashion that is nice for breaking down opponents over time.”
Muhammad had a tough go of issues within the UFC. He went 1-2 along with his losses, a call to Alan Jouban, and a knockout setback by the hands of Vicente Luque, bookending a TKO victory over Augusto Montaño. The loss to Jouban, Muhammad’s UFC debut, earned the combatants “Battle of the Evening” honors.
After the loss to Luque, Muhammad gained 4 straight choices. That profitable streak led to 2019 when Geoff Neal topped Muhammad through determination. That loss is the newest blemish on Muhammad’s file.
The 36-year-old is on a 10-0-0-1 run since then. Following the loss to Neal, Muhammad went 4-0. That run put him in the principle occasion of UFC Vegas 21 reverse Leon Edwards. On the time, Edwards was the No. 3 competitor within the official UFC welterweight rankings, whereas Muhammad checked in at No. 13. Edwards was a -270 betting favourite, whereas Muhammad was the +220 betting underdog.
The competition didn’t final lengthy as Edwards poked Muhammad within the eye 18 seconds into the second spherical. The attention poke left Muhammad unable to proceed, and the struggle was dominated a no contest.
Over the subsequent two years, Muhammad rang up 5 extra victories in opposition to progressively more durable competitors. He defeated Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady, and Gilbert Burns throughout that run. The overcome Burns earned Muhammad the No. 2 rating within the division and a date with Edwards at UFC 304. Edwards was the reigning UFC welterweight champion on the time and was trying to make a 3rd protection of that belt in opposition to Muhammad. Edwards was on a 12-fight unbeaten run when he stepped into the Octagon because the -265 favourite over the +215 Muhammad.
After the struggle, which Muhammad won via decision, I wrote, “Belal Muhammad had the right recreation plan for Leon Edwards at UFC 304. Not solely did he and his group have that technique mapped out, however Muhammad seamlessly executed that plan of assault.
Muhammad used stress and high-output placing to take away time and area from Edwards. That method pressured Edwards to retreat, and as soon as Muhammad had his opponent’s again to the fence, he added his wrestling and floor management to the combo.
Edwards landed a good share of his strikes at 66 p.c, however the stress from Muhammad restricted his makes an attempt to only 71 vital strikes. Edwards threw over 100 strikes in his two most up-to-date bouts. Muhammad was particularly efficient in his wrestling, racking up 9 takedowns on 13 makes an attempt and selecting up 12:02 of management time.
“With the win, Muhammad gained the UFC welterweight title and prolonged his unbeaten streak to 11 fights. His final loss got here in January 2019, when Geoff Neal defeated him through determination.”
Muhammad was booked to face Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310, however a bone an infection prevented Muhammad from competing on that card. With Rakhmonov unable to compete at UFC 314, the UFC opted to guide Muhammad in opposition to Della Maddalena in Montreal.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MARCH 09: Jack Della Maddalena of Australia prepares to face Gilbert Burns of … Extra
Jack Della Maddalena (17-2) signed with the UFC in September 2021 following a call win over Ange Loosa on a Dana White’s Contender Sequence card. Earlier than the bout, UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby mentioned of Della Maddalena, “I thinkDella Maddalena might be the very best prospect out of New Zealand or Australia at welterweight. He is a giant man. He throws a ton of offense, and he is actually good within the clinch. The win over Loosa marked the primary time Della Maddalena had gained a struggle through determination. He went into the bout on a run of 9 stoppages (eight knockouts, one submission) after opening his skilled profession at 0-2 with two stoppage setbacks. Della Maddalena was the reigning and defending Everlasting MMA welterweight titleholder heading into the DWCS card.
The Australian scrapper opened his official UFC run with 4 first-round stoppage wins and three “Efficiency of the Evening” bonuses. He completed Pete Rodriguez, Ramazan Emeev, and Danny Roberts by knockout earlier than stopping Randy Brown through submission.
In his first struggle to go the space underneath the UFC banner, Della Maddalena was in a “Battle of the Evening” bonus-winning affair with Bassil Hafez, which Della Maddalena gained through break up determination. He adopted that with one other break up determination, topping Kevin Holland in September 2023.
The 28-year-old acquired to ending fights in his most up-to-date outing, knocking out former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns within the third spherical of their UFC 299 assembly.
I wrote of Della Maddalena’s “Efficiency of the Evening” bonus-winning stoppage, “Jack Della Maddalena was centered and poised all through his matchup with the higher-ranked Gilbert Burns. The 27-year-old’s placing was on level all through the struggle. He used mixtures and combined up his targets properly. Even when issues weren’t going his approach, because of Burns’ grappling expertise, Della Maddalena by no means panicked. That composure led to him touchdown a knee within the third spherical after a scramble to get off the mat and organising the bottom strikes that completed the struggle on the 3:43 mark of Spherical 3.
“Della Maddalena confirmed a niche in his total expertise on this struggle, struggling along with his defensive grappling, however at simply 27, the Australian has time to shore up that weak spot sooner or later.
“Search for Della Maddalena to leap up within the official UFC welterweight rankings following UFC 299, as he entered the struggle at No. 11, and Burns was No. 4. He’s now 7-0 within the UFC and 17-2 as a professional.
“Additionally, it have to be famous, that Burns was up 20-18 on two scorecards heading into the third spherical.
Della Maddalena is the No. 5 fighter within the official UFC welterweight rankings heading into UFC 315.
UFC 315 Battle Card Major Occasion: Belal Muhammad Vs. Jack Della Maddalena Betting Odds And Line Motion
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MARCH 09: Jack Della Maddalena of Australia prepares to face Gilbert Burns of … Extra
When the opening betting odds for the UFC 315 major occasion had been launched, Muhammad was the -175 betting favourite over the +150 Della Maddalena. Right this moment, these odds are the identical.
UFC 315 Battle Card Major Occasion Story Of The Tape: Belal Muhammad Vs. Jack Della Maddalena
Belal Muhammad
Age: 36
Top: 5’ 11”
Attain: 72”
Stance: Orthodox
Jack Della Maddalena
Age: 28
Top: 5’ 11”
Attain: 73”
Stance: Swap
UFC 315 Battle Card Major Occasion Predictions and Picks: Belal Muhammad Vs. Jack Della Maddalena
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JULY 27: Belal Muhammad prepares to face Leon Edwards of Jamaica within the UFC … Extra
The primary occasion of UFC 315 presents Jack Della Maddalena with an infinite bounce up in competitors. Whereas the challenger is a well-rounded fighter with a wonderful placing recreation, he has not confronted a fighter as completed as Belal Muhammad.
I anticipate Muhammad to make use of the early moments of this struggle to choose up on Della Maddalena’s habits after which to seek out openings to use these tendencies, which can probably find yourself with the champion taking the struggle to the bottom, the place he’ll preserve Della Maddalena and rack up management time.
Della Maddalena has a puncher’s likelihood, however Muhammad has solely been stopped as soon as in his profession and that got here almost eight years in the past.
The betting decide is for Belal Muhammad to retain his UFC welterweight title with a call victory at UFC 315.
We may have extra on the UFC 315 Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena bout as struggle night time nears, in addition to reside outcomes, reactions, highlights and extra for the UFC 315 pay-per-view card on struggle night time.
