In the wake of an injury to Shavkat Rakhmonov, it’s Australian Jack Della Maddalena who will be up next for welterweight champ Belal Muhammad.
The Muhammad (24-3, 1NC) vs. Maddalena (17-2) welterweight title fight will headline UFC 315 on May 10, 2025 in Montreal, UFC President and CEO Dana White announced on Tuesday. Promotion officials later confirmed the booking.
The fight sees Jack Della Maddalena shifted from March’s UFC London main event, where he was to have faced former champ Leon Edwards. Edwards now faces Sean Brady instead.
Muhammad was to have faced Shavkat at UFC 310 in December, only to withdraw due to injury. In his stead, Ian Machado Garry stepped into a non-title fight with Rakhmonov, losing via decision. Now, “Remember the Name” will get his first title defense away from home, though much closer to home base than JDM.
Muhammad has not lost since a 2019 decision he dropped to Geoff Neal. Since then, he’s put together 10 wins, and a No Contest due to an eye poke that rendered him unable to continue in his first fight with Leon Edwards. The rematch saw Muhammad dethrone the Brit to claim welterweight gold.
Jack Della Maddalena sits on a 17-fight win streak, and has not lost since the first two fights of his pro career. Alongside the likes of Garry and Rakhmonov, he represents a new era of welterweight fighters in the UFC. JDM is coming off a March 2024 finish of Gilbert Burns, and holds wins over Randy Brown and Kevin Holland as well.
UFC 315 takes place on May 10 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, and marks the promotion’s return to the Canadian city after a ten-year absence.
