Jack Della Maddalena anticipated a tough battle when getting ready for his UFC 315 fight against Belal Muhammad, and the fight unfolded just as expected, delivering a true war.
The competitive back-and-forth contest ultimately earned “Fight of the Night” honors. Muhammad largely stuck to showcasing his striking, as he`d promised before the event, mostly avoiding takedowns. This approach might arguably be what cost him the title, though Della Maddalena wasn`t entirely taken aback by his opponent`s strategy.
“I wasn`t really surprised by his game plan,” Della Maddalena commented on Muhammad at the UFC 315 post-fight press conference. “He was saying he wasn`t going to do takedowns, but I guess I was expecting more of a well-rounded offense. You just have to be ready for anything and roll with it, and I feel that`s what I did.”
While he was taken down a couple of times during the five-round bout, Della Maddalena avoided significant damage on the ground and consistently managed to scramble back to his feet.
Interestingly, Della Maddalena`s own plan involved maintaining control of the center of the octagon and preventing Muhammad from pinning him against the cage. Although he did find himself in that position several times, Della Maddalena also landed some of his most effective strikes whenever Muhammad closed the distance and engaged in close-quarters fighting.
“The game plan was to stay off the fence,” Della Maddalena explained. “That`s where he performs best. So I was focused on staying off the fence, but he kept pressing forward and pushing me back. I felt like every time he came in close, I was able to hit him and then create space away from the fence.”
“I anticipated a difficult fight,” he added. “He`s clearly a skilled, pressure fighter with solid wrestling; he`s quite well-rounded. I was definitely expecting a tough challenge.”
By the fifth and final round, with the scorecards potentially close, Della Maddalena aimed for a finish rather than leaving the decision to the judges.
He came very close to achieving this, landing a powerful combination that visibly rocked the now-former champion. To Muhammad`s credit, he displayed incredible durability as Della Maddalena desperately tried to secure the stoppage.
“I was really hoping to get him out of there,” Della Maddalena stated. “All week, I`d been thinking about how cool it would be to get that late fight finish, similar to my fight with Gilbert Burns. It felt good to dig deep and try to finish it at the very end. I gave it my best shot.”
When the fight concluded, Della Maddalena wasn`t entirely sure about the outcome, but his coaches assured him he had done enough to win. They were proven right, as the judges awarded him the victory with scorecards reading 49-46, 48-47, and 48-47, crowning Della Maddalena the new UFC champion.
“You never truly know, but I felt I had put in good work,” Della Maddalena commented. “But I suppose you can never be certain when it goes to the judges. After the fight ended, I asked my corner multiple times, and they consistently told me, `Yep, you absolutely won that.`”
