Jack Della Maddalena defied the percentages with a punishing efficiency to beat Belal Muhammad and grow to be the brand new welterweight champion in an absolute conflict to cap off UFC 315 from Montreal on Saturday evening.
The Australian slugger confirmed that his year-plus out of the cage solely gave him time to get higher as he battered Muhammad with a devastating hanging arsenal that in all probability would have flattened most fighters. As an alternative, Muhammad simply saved absorbing his greatest photographs after which coming again for extra as he gave Della Maddalena all the things he may deal with in the course of the five-round battle.
The distinction actually got here right down to the quantity of harm that Della Maddalena was capable of dish out to safe the choice win with the judges scoring the battle 48-47, 48-47, and 49-46 in his favor.
“It’s precisely how I believed it will really feel. It feels f*cking good,” Della Maddalena stated after changing into the brand new UFC welterweight champion. “I knew I needed to be good on my ft. I ought to have been a bit sharper with the photographs.
“Coming in there towards somebody like Belal with that stress wrestling, I knew I needed to be good. I believed I used to be forward, I wished to take him out of there. Belal’s the person, he’s a troublesome dude. Australia we bought three of those infants let’s go!”
Whereas it clearly wasn’t the outcome that Muhammad wished, he engaged in an unbelievable battle however finally simply couldn’t sustain with Della Maddalena’s hanging prowess.
That confirmed up early and sometimes from Della Maddalena as he established a slick lead jab with Muhammad firing again with a well-timed overhand proper that linked on the chin. With Muhammad not trying to change ranges for a takedown, Della Maddalena began launching kicks to the legs after which going again up high to the top.
With lower than 90 seconds left within the opening spherical, Muhammad lastly turned to his wrestling however he truly deserted the takedown and as an alternative hammered Della Maddalena with a few stiff punches earlier than transferring away from the cage.
On the restart, Della Maddalena actually began throwing with energy behind his proper hand and he saved catching Muhammad on the chin. Nonetheless, Muhammad appeared resigned to remain standing with him as he tried to get going together with his combos.
Because the battle moved into the third spherical, Della Maddalena was oozing with confidence as he displayed nice head motion after which simply popping Muhammad with stiff boxing combos. A stiff jab from Della Maddalena saved discovering a house with Muhammad coming again at him with extra energy behind his punches.
When Muhammad was capable of shut the space, he was constantly connecting together with his strikes however Della Maddalena was fast to react and hearth again at him. Muhammad used that to then go for a takedown however he finally opted to throw some extra punches with Della Maddalena cracking him proper again in return.
The aggression from Muhammad continued however his willingness to commerce bombs with Della Maddalena allowed the Australian to provide pretty much as good as he was getting. The distinction was just a bit bit extra quantity from Muhammad, who was staying busier whereas additionally trying to drag Della Maddalena to the canvas.
After exchanging some heavy blows on the ft together with a knee that opened a minimize on Muhammad’s face, the champion lastly secured his cleanest takedown within the battle. Sadly, Muhammad couldn’t do something with it and Della Maddalena was capable of explode again to his ft.
With Muhammad nonetheless transferring ahead, Della Maddalena blasted him with a devastating mixture that appeared to rock the Chicago native. Understanding that point was working quick, Della Maddalena simply continued to pour on the punishment as he did all the things potential to make sure he was leaving Montreal with the welterweight title round his waist.
It actually was a surprising efficiency from Della Maddalena however his celebration didn’t final lengthy as a result of he already is aware of that his subsequent problem is nearly definitely coming from UFC light-weight king Islam Makhachev with plans to maneuver to 170 kilos now that his buddy and frequent teammate is not the champion.
“I feel it’s a stupendous problem,” Della Maddalena stated about going through Makhachev. “He’s pound-for-pound No. 1. I’m going to get him again for [Alexander Volkanovski].”
