UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) is feeling confident ahead of his first title defense at UFC 315.
News emerged last week that "Remember The Name" is set to face the division’s No. 4-ranked contender, Jack Della Maddalena (17-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC), in Montreal, Canada, on May 10. This marks a significant stylistic change, as Della Maddalena is a different type of fighter than the man originally set to challenge for Muhammad's belt, Shavkat Rakhmonov.
With Rakhmonov unavailable due to injury, Della Maddalena was pulled from his UFC London headline fight on March 22 against Leon Edwards and promoted to face Muhammad in May instead.
Speaking at today's press conference to preview UFC 315, Muhammad brushed off any suggestion that Della Maddalena's impressive boxing skills might cause him problems. Instead, he insisted that the Australian should be worried about his striking.
“I am the best striker in the welterweight division,” the champion told reporters. “I’m the best grappler, I’m the best wrestler, I’m the best fighter. You’ve seen it. Leon Edwards was the next one up. He was the (gold) standard. He knocked out Kamaru Usman. And I made it look easy. I’m going to make it look easy on May 10.
“People are just going to keep doubting me, and I’m just going to keep breaking those barriers. I’m going to keep showing you guys I’m the best fighter in the world. He’s coming out of the kiddie pool, and he’s going straight into the deep end of the ocean. This is going to be a bad night for him. And you guys are going to see it on May 10.”
Della Maddalena Confident Of Beating Belal
Della Maddalena had been deep into his training camp, preparing to face Leon Edwards, when he got the news last week that he would instead be facing Muhammad for the welterweight title at UFC 315.
“Yeah, it’s a big change,” the 28-year-old admits. “I was ready to go. I think London is about three or four weeks away. And yeah, I was pretty fit. I was ready to go. Big fight, and then obviously got the opportunity. So it was an easy decision. Bit of a change in opponent, but I’m pretty confident I can get the win. So yeah, I’m ready to tackle the next few weeks, sharpen the tools, and come in the best version of myself.”
