Belal Muhammad’s welterweight title reign came to an end on May 10 where he was beaten via a unanimous decision.
With the best performance of his career to date, Jack Della Maddalena defeated Muhammad at the Bell Center in Montreal.
It was known ahead of time that the welterweight title fight at UFC 315 would have big implications for the lightweight division as Islam Makhachev waited to see who came out on top.
After a new champion was crowned at 170 pounds, talk immediately turned to the Russian moving up a weight class with Della Maddalena exchanging statements with Makhachev.
Muhammad has now reflected on the fight in his first statement since his remarkable unbeaten streak finally came to an end.
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Belal Muhammad thanks his supporters when reflecting on UFC 315 loss
Having not lost since January of 2019, Belal Muhammad was convincingly beaten by Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315, even if two judges did score the first and fourth rounds for the defending champion.
Many fans were surprised to see ‘Remember the Name’ not try to implement his wrestling early on in the fight despite him stating ahead of May 10 that he would stand with his challenger.
It certainly wasn’t his best performance inside the Octagon but you also can’t take anything away from Della Maddalena who pulled off the upset win to take his stock to new heights.
Whilst the conversation has immediately moved on to what is next for the new champion, it doesn’t look like Muhammad is going anywhere just yet.
In his first social media post since the defeat, the 36-year-old thanked his supporters before he stated that he’s bounced back stronger from defeats in the past.
With several viable contenders all pushing for a title shot in the welterweight division, it will be fascinating to see where Muhammad slots back in.
“Allah’s plan is the best plan, Alhamdillah for everything. Thank you to all my supporters. I been here before and I’ll be back.”
Fans praised Belal Muhammad for putting on a great fight in defeat
Belal Muhammad hasn’t been a popular figure amongst MMA fans for some time with the former champion often being labelled as boring.
Though he didn’t get his hand raised on May 10, ‘Remember the Name’ did receive a lot of credit after putting on a great welterweight title fight.
Some fans even suggested that Muhammad straying from his wrestling-heavy approach, that has seen him be criticized in the past, may have cost him in this fight.
“I think Belal could have won but he tried to prove he wasn’t a boring fighter but ended up losing the decision. Great fight though.”
Others gave Jack Della Maddalena the majority of the credit for forcing Muhammad to engage him in an entertaining contest.