UFC 315 mailbag: How long will Jack Della Maddalena reign at welterweight?

UFC 315 is within the books, and we now have a brand new welterweight champion.

On Saturday, Jack Della Maddalena scored the largest win of his profession, placing on a masterful efficiency to take a unanimous determination over Belal Muhammad and declare the welterweight title.

The place does “JDM” go from right here, and the way lengthy will he reign? What in regards to the flyweight title image after Valentina Shevchenko stifled Manon Fiorot? And is Jose Aldo actually performed? Let’s dive into this week’s questions.

Jack Della Maddalena — champion

How do you are feeling Jack Della Maddalena’s title reign will go?

Properly, I suppose that largely relies on how his first struggle goes, and I’m 50/50 on that one.

Islam Makhachev goes to get the primary shot at JDM, and I don’t know who wins that one. My early intuition favors Makhachev as a result of he’s the perfect fighter on the planet, and that counts for lots. Additionally, I believe Makhachev is an all-around higher fighter than Muhammad, and Muhammad fought JDM shut, so Makhachev ought to, theoretically, do higher. However on the opposite facet of issues, JDM remains to be bettering from struggle to struggle, confirmed vastly higher anti-wrestling than he ever had beforehand, and has a harmful skillset for Makhachev. So I’m not betting the home on Makhachev.

The battle for JDM, although, is that even when he beats Makhachev, there’s no reprieve. Welterweight is stuffed with unbelievable rising abilities, and Della Maddalena must go from Islam to Shavkat Rakhmonov or Ian Machado Garry or Sean Brady or Joaquin Buckley. After which there are guys like Michael Morales and Carlos Prates coming down the road. The 170 title image is a shark tank proper now, and so even when JDM can swim for some time, I gained’t be selecting anybody to clear by that assassin’s row.

Title photos

Are you able to dive into the mess that Jack Della Maddalena’s win left at 170 and 155? What do Shavkat, Brady, Belal, and Buckley do now whereas Islam will get the shot? And the 155 belt is not going to be defended till 2026 most definitely.

Not a large number in any respect. It’s really damaged out fairly cleanly now, although maybe not optimally for some events.

Islam faces JDM for the welterweight belt later this 12 months — both when the UFC goes again to Australia within the fall, or Abu Dhabi. As a result of he vacated the belt, Charles Oliveira and Ilia Topuria are squaring off for the light-weight belt at UFC 317. I’ll go forward and guess that Arman Tsarukyan will struggle Justin Gaethje someday quickly for a shot on the winner of that one.

As for welterweight, Garry and Brady are in all probability locked in for a scrap now, and the winner of Buckley vs. Kamaru Usman will get Belal subsequent. The one actual query is Shavkat, however my guess is Shavkat sits cageside for the Islam vs. JDM struggle, and faces the winner of that early subsequent 12 months.

Until, in fact, the UFC chooses chaos. If Topuria beats Oliveira, and Makhachev beats Della Maddalena, I’m sure individuals can be much more psychotically rabid for that potential struggle than ever. And if the UFC indicators some new TV deal, what higher technique to make a splash than Makhachev vs. Topuria for the welterweight title someday subsequent 12 months? I’m not saying this can occur, I’m simply saying it’s in play now. And whereas that might be WILDLY unfair to a complete host of individuals, one thing tells me most followers gained’t care about that.

Girls’s flyweight

The place does Alexa Grasso go from right here? I suppose her championship was a fluke.

Additionally, Silva has an actual likelihood of dethroning Shevchenko. Is she the way forward for the 125 division?

Oof, speak in regards to the greatest loser on Saturday. Alexa Grasso is now in profession purgatory, and searching just like the crowning achievement of her profession will go down as an aberration. Brutal flip of occasions for Grasso.

Let’s begin by saying Grasso’s win over Shevchenko wasn’t a fluke, however it appears clear now that it wasn’t the most definitely end result. In the event that they struggle 10 occasions, Shevchenko wins greater than half of them. However Grasso was ready on the night time that it mattered and located a technique to win. That’s commendable.

It additionally illustrates my oft-repeated level that defending a title over and over is the toughest factor to do in MMA. As a result of each trip, you’re getting the perfect shot from somebody who has spent their total life getting ready for this struggle. One mistake, one slip, and it’s all gone.

As for the place Grasso goes, there’s nowhere to go. She in all probability can’t make 115, and she or he’d be very undersized at 135, that means she’s caught at flyweight. Solely now there’s a crop of up-and-comers, which implies she’s in all probability about to be the launching pad for future title aspirants.

As for Silva, sure, she might be the longer term at flyweight. She regarded incredible on Saturday, and whereas I gained’t go as far as to say she’d beat Shevchenko in the event that they fought subsequent, she definitely may. I imagine Silva and Erin Blanchfield are destined for a trilogy of flyweight title fights within the coming years.

However for now, it’s fairly clearly about to be Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili subsequent. It’s a matchup of two of the 4 best feminine fighters of all-time. You need to do this subsequent.

Jose Aldo retirement

Do you suppose Aldo is retiring for actual?

I don’t.

After shedding a *cough* rubbish *cough* determination to Aiemann Zahabi on Saturday, Jose Aldo stated that was in all probability his final time within the octagon. The UFC Corridor of Famer and featherweight GOAT later doubled down on this, saying it “might have been my final time contained in the octagon.” And to me, that tells us what we have to know. If he had been dedicated, it wouldn’t be “might.”

That is definitely a little bit of armchair psychology, however I believe Aldo was simply pissed off this week. It’s been a gripe I’ve repeated a number of occasions, however it’s laborious to overstate how badly the UFC has managed this last run of his. Certain, Jonathan Martinez in Rio is at the least explicable, however then reserving Aldo in opposition to Mario Bautista and Zahabi was simply mindless. These aren’t large names, which undoubtedly makes it more durable to care about going through them. His candid admission that his weight lower failed as a result of he couldn’t get previous it mentally, to me, reads like a person who couldn’t dial in to struggle some random dude. As a result of why would he? These aren’t legendary names or legacy fights, just a few dudes. It’s laborious for me to suppose he wouldn’t be extra locked in if the struggle was a big-name, legacy matchup. And, in fact, to high all of it off, his final two losses had been unhealthy selections.

I believe after taking a while to mirror, Aldo goes to comprehend he’s not performed combating; he’s simply performed combating meaningless scraps. But when the UFC involves Jose in a couple of months and says, “We’re going to Rio this fall, you vs. Patricio Pitbull, you ?” I believe Aldo is altering his tune.

At the least, I hope so.

Thanks for studying and due to everybody who despatched in tweets (Xs?)! Do you’ve got any burning questions on issues at the least considerably associated to fight sports activities? Then you definitely’re in luck as a result of you possibly can ship your tweets to me, @JedKMeshew, and I’ll reply all the nice ones! It doesn’t matter in the event that they’re topical or insane, simply as long as they’re good. Thanks once more, and see y’all subsequent week.