Your new welterweight king is here. Jack Della Maddalena dethrones Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 to take another title to Australia. Is Islam Makhachev next?

🎞️Check out Fight Finders, my docuseries! Episode 006 is out now: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx7TZlIVGhDZ_TpnOtVEVSXmkpr_ViExz&si=J8DZ9G6a-RvTaMOv

📰 Newsletter: fightlibrary.substack.com

📚 “Iron Ambition” by Mike Tyson: https://amzn.to/3RXbIMr

Chapters:

0:11 The new king: Jack Della Maddalena

8:34 Belal Muhammad’s Mistakes

13:32 Boring Valentina Shevchenko

17:24 Goodbye, Jose Aldo

Jack Della Maddalena straight up dominated Belal Muhammad. Despite being ranked behind several top contenders, Jack Della Maddalena came out firing on all cylinders and looked the best he ever has at UFC 315. Now with the strap, he’s the king. But another is coming: Islam Makhachev. Jack Della Maddalena will have to take on the top pound for pound fighter in he world next (likely) if he hopes to stay the king.

Belal Muhammad made some mistakes at UFC 315. While Jack Della Maddalena did fight a near perfect fight, the insistence on boxing early really hurt Belal Muhammad. Not wrestling early hurt and even if he did, Jack Della Maddalena looked great in defending. Now Belal Muhammad is at the back of the queue, behind Islam Makhachev, Sean Brady, and Shavkat Rakhmonov.

Valentina Shevchenko proved me wrong and took a tough win over Manon Fiorot. I thought UFC 315 would be the arrival of a new champ and the ousting of an old one. But Valentina Shevchenko came out, got behind, and still fought to win her fight, despite bein down. All in all, Manon Fiorot didn’t fight terribly. But she lacked the experience to defeat Valentina Shevchenko over five rounds. All this said, Valentina Shevchenko is bad.

UFC 315 is (supposedly) the last time we see Jose Aldo in the cage. After nearly finishing Aiemann Zahabi in the third round, Jose Aldo sprinted across he cage, trying to finish the fight. Cool? Yes. But Jose Aldo was looking up at the clock and seeing there were three minutes left. That was the moment when Jose Aldo gave up. Goodbye, Jose Aldo, one of the GOAT’s.