Title reign ends immediately Muhammad dropped the UFC Welterweight Championship on Saturday, losing to Jack Della Maddalena via unanimous decision (47-48, 47-48, 46-49) at UFC 315 in Montreal. Impact While the fight was supremely entertaining, it was an underwhelming performance from Muhammad as a -200 favorite in his first title defense. It was widely assumed that Belal would have a massive edge in the grappling and thus go to his wrestling game over and over, but he didn't land a takedown until Round 4 and connected on just 3-of-9 takedowns overall. When all was said and done, he was credited with just 3:21 worth of control time. Muhammad landed more than his fair of shots on the feet, but Della Maddalena without question landed the more notable blows. Shockingly two of the three judges had the fight tied going into Round 5, at which point an exhausted Belal simply couldn't get over the hump. Set to turn 37 years of age this coming July, it's the setback snaps a 11-fight unbeaten streak (10-0, 1NC) for Muhammad and is his first setback since January 19, 2019, a unanimous decision defeat against Geoff Neal.
MAY 11 • ROTOWIRE