Jack Della Maddalena became the latest man to hold the 170 pound gold after pulling off the upset win on May 10.
The rising welterweight was considered by many to be one of the division’s dark horses but that label no longer applies following UFC 315.
Della Maddalena defeated Belal Muhammad in the main event to improve his UFC winning streak to eight with the best performance of his career to date.
Muhammad’s approach was questioned after the defending champion didn’t have much success in implementing his grappling game where many believed that he would hold the advantage.
With Della Maddalena turning his attention to Islam Makhachev, the new titleholder has now inserted his name into the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings for the first time.
Jack Della Maddalena ranks higher than Alexandre Pantoja and Tom Aspinall in pound-for-pound rankings
Jack Della Maddalena has entered the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings for the first time with his win at UFC 315 seeing him climb all the way to the #9 spot.
The Aussie announced his arrival in the promotion with four consecutive first-round finishes before he got his hand raised in back-to-back split decisions.
Della Maddalena’s win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 cemented him as a title contender but it did raise some questions after he rallied to secure a come-from-behind victory.
He was able to answer a lot of those doubts with his performance at the Bell Center in Montreal where ‘JDM’ dethroned Belal Muhammad in his first title defense.
Coming in at #9 means that the new welterweight champion has overtaken several notable names in the list, including two UFC champions and one BMF.
Della Maddalena now sits above flyweight champ Alexandre Pantoja, interim heavyweight titleholder Tom Aspinall, Max Holloway, Muhammad, Sean O’Malley and Charles Oliveira.
Arman Tsarukyan has fallen out of the top 15 with the new champion’s teammate, Alexander Volkanovski, moving up two spots.
A lot of fans specifically referenced Della Maddalena overtaking Pantoja in their reactions, with the flyweight champion successfully defending his title three times having not lost since July of 2020.
Daniel Cormier recently named Pantoja, and Della Maddalena, on his list of the top five most underrated fighters on the roster.
More UFC 315 rankings updates see Jose Aldo depart with a new number one contender at flyweight
Aiemann Zahabi’s controversial win over Jose Aldo has seen the in-form contender climb four spots to the #11-ranking in the bantamweight division while his legendary opponent has departed the top 15 following his retirement.
The most movement came in the women’s flyweight division where Valentina Shevchenko defeated Manon Fiorot to remain at the very top.
There were two other big performances from contenders at 125 pounds on May 10 with Natalia Silva and Jasmine Jasudavicius earning wins over former champions.
Silva is now ranked as the #1 contender in the division with Jasudavicius climbing three spots to #6.