The UFC’s return to Montreal after a decade away went smoothly on Saturday, with a thrilling undercard on UFC 315, big finishes, and an entertaining main event.
The house the Georges St-Pierre once dominated, the Bell Centre, played host to a modern day welterweight title fight, with Jack Della Maddalena claiming gold after dethroning Belal Muhammad in a five round decision.
While early rounds were close, Della Maddalena finished strong, lighting up Muhammad in the fifth. Belal took some heavy shots well and proved to have a solid chin, but failed to defend his title in his first attempt at defending it. Jack Della Maddalena now becomes the third Australian UFC champ, following Robert Whittaker and Alexander Volkanovski.
For their efforts, JDM and Muhammad share Fight of the Night at UFC 315.
Performance of the Night bonuses went to a pair of Canadians, including women’s flyweight Jasmine Jasudavicius. The St. Catharines, Ontario fighter dominated former strawweight champ and 125lb title challenger Jessica Andrade, slamming her, controlling her, softening the Brazilian up, then locking in a rear-naked choke. UFC Senior VP of International and Content David Shaw later told Cageside Press that the thoroughness of Jasudavicius’ performance helped clinch the bonus for her.
Marc-Andre Barriault, with his back to the wall following three straight losses, took home the other $50,000 Performance bonus. He smashed Bruno Silva with an elbow that face-planted the Brazilian, finishing off the fight with a few extra punches. Silva was transported to hospital, luckily all tests came back negative.
Attendance at the Bell Centre was 19,786 per the promotion, with the gate coming in at roughly $6 million U.S.
