In his first defense of the welterweight title, Belal Muhammad didn’t play to his strengths throughout the fight.
The champion stood and traded with his challenger for the majority of the five round contest, which saw Jack Della Maddalena defeat Muhammad via a unanimous decision.
It now looks like the lightweight champion will be moving up to challenge the new titleholder at 170 pounds, with Della Maddalena taking on Islam Makhachev in the near future.
As for Muhammad, who reflected on the fight in a post on social media, it’s hard to see where he slots back into the division once he returns.
‘Remember the Name’ wasn’t at his best on May 10 and the coach of the great Khabib Nurmagomedov believes that he knows why.
Javier Mendez says Belal Muhammad was trying too hard to prove a point at UFC 315
In an interview with Submission Radio, Javier Mendez stated that he was surprised to see Belal Muhammad not implement his wrestling a lot more at UFC 315.
The champion had said in the buildup to the fight that he was going to stand and strike with Jack Della Maddalena but this ended up playing into his opponent’s game.
Mendez believes that this was Muhammad trying to prove a point and answer some of the criticism that he has faced in recent years.
“None of us thought that Belal would be able to beat him just stand up so he wanted to do what none of us thought he could do, that’s what I’m thinking. I could be wrong but that’s what it appeared like to me.”
Mendez went on to say that Khabib Nurmagomedov often had the same mindset during his career where he wanted to show people how his striking had improved.
‘The Eagle’ did just that but he still relied largely on his grappling skills to keep hold of the lightweight title without ever tasting defeat.
Mendez said that through Nurmagomedov’s career, he was constantly trying to get him to stick to the skill set that separated him from everyone else rather than trying to convince others of how good he was.
“I used to be on Khabib all the time because Khabib, everyone always criticized him for not being good at striking. I’d always keep him on track but he’d always go off track trying to prove to people that he could stand, and he could stand as the fights went on later.
“Later he was able to stand really well, extremely well. But, I still didn’t like that because I wanted him to go back to what made him the best and that’s the mistake that a lot of fighters make. They want to prove their point.”
Javier Mendez gives Jack Della Maddalena some of the credit for Belal Muhammad’s uncharacteristic performance
While there were some questions about Belal Muhammad’s approach, that shouldn’t be used to take some of the shine away from Jack Della Maddalena.
The underdog challenger put in the best performance of his career to beat the champion on the feet and keep the fight standing.
Javier Mendez recognized this when he reflected on the main event of UFC 315, giving Della Maddalena credit for a win that will take his career to new heights.
“At the same time, too, maybe Jack didn’t allow him those opportunities. But, Jack did a great job. He mixes up his punches and his kicks really well, keeps his distance really well, stayed in the middle the majority of the time. He’s all around just a really good fighter.”