Muhammad to defend title against Della Maddalena at UFC 315
Two championships will be on the line when the UFC heads to Montreal on May 10.
Belal Muhammad (24-3) will defend the welterweight championship against Jack Della Maddalena (17-2) in the main event of UFC 315, and women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will put her title on the line against Manon Fiorot in the co-main event of the fight card that will take place at the Bell Centre.
Muhammad was originally slated to make his first title defense against top contender Shavkat Rakhmonov in December. However, a bone infection in his foot forced Muhammad out of the fight. The plan was for the bout to be rescheduled for the first half of 2025, but Rakhmonov has been dealing with a lingering injury and will not be available for May. In his place will be Della Maddalena, who had been slated to face former welterweight champion Leon Edwards at UFC Fight Night in London on March 22. But with Rakhmonov unavailable, the Australian fighter was pulled and will now get his first opportunity at UFC gold. Sean Brady will step in for Della Maddalena to face Edwards in March.
Muhammad has not lost a fight in six years and is coming off a one-sided decision win over Edwards to win the 170-pound championship in July. He will look to end Della Maddalena’s 17-fight winning streak.
Shevchenko (29-4-1) reclaimed the strawweight championship by defeating Alexa Grasso in September. ESPN’s No. 2 women’s pound-for-pound fighter avenged the only submission loss of her career and will now look to begin a second run as flyweight champion. “Bullet” successfully defended the championship seven times during her first run as champion and will kick off her second tenure against a slick striker who will look to match Shevchenko in the standup.
Fighting out of France, Fiorot (12-1) made her UFC debut in January 2021 with a knockout of Victoria Leonardo and hasn’t looked back since, running her current winning streak to 12 with wins over Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield. The UFC’s No. 2-ranked women’s flyweight will get her first crack at gold against one of the best to ever do it.
Also announced for UFC 315 were:
• Former women’s flyweight champion Grasso will look to bounce back from the Shevchenko loss when she faces Natalia Silva.
• Former welterweight title contender Gilbert Burns will look to stop the surging Michael Morales in a showdown between 170-pound fighters jockeying for position in the championship pecking order.
UFC 315 will mark the promotion’s first event in Montreal in 10 years.
Aaron Pico says he will never fight for the PFL again, even if it means sitting out an entire year.
Pico (13-4) is currently a free agent and has made it clear he wishes to sign with the UFC. The 28-year-old is considered one of the top featherweights in the world, with nine of his 13 wins coming by knockout.
One potential hiccup in Pico’s move to the UFC, however, is the PFL holds a contractual right to match any offer he receives. On Wednesday, Pico told ESPN that if the PFL were to exercise that right, he would rather sit out an entire year to let it expire before signing a new deal with the promotion.
“If they match it, then I’m with the PFL and I’ll sit out one year,” Pico told ESPN. “I don’t want to fight for the PFL. If that means me sitting out, then I’ll do it. Yes, [I will never appear under their banner again].”
Pico’s career is unique in that he signed a developmental contract with Bellator MMA in 2014, three years before he even made his MMA debut. A former standout in amateur wrestling and boxing, Pico’s entire MMA career has taken place in Bellator. He came under contract with the PFL when the league purchased Bellator in late 2023.
Pico, who is from California and fights out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, has fought only once since the PFL took over Bellator ownership. He claims he has had three canceled fights during that time and has lost trust in the PFL, which is why he refuses to accept any deal that keeps him there.
In a statement on social media on Tuesday, PFL co-founder Donn Davis said he “loves” Pico, and the PFL is simply holding its matching rights, which is standard business.
“I understand that, but it’s standard to make sure that your fighters are fighting three fights [per year],” Pico said. “I haven’t been able to work.”
Several Bellator MMA fighters have complained publicly about a lack of fights since PFL took over the company. Former champions Gegard Mousasi and Patricio Pitbull Freire have already secured their respective releases. Bantamweight champion Patchy Mix has also publicly requested his release.
The PFL has announced a major change to its format for 2025, moving away from a “regular season” point system to a single elimination tournament.
ESPN
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The first UFC event in over a decade will be headlined by two title fights.
Welterweight champion Belal Muhammad will defend his title against Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC 315 main event May 10 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the promotion announced Wednesday.
In addition, UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko will face France’s Manon Fiorot in a five-round co-main event.
Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) returns from a severe toe infection that knocked him out of a scheduled title fight vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov in December. Rakhmonov instead faced and defeated Ian Machado Garry. Due to injury, Rakhmonov was unable to take a crack at Muhammad.
That’s where Della Maddalena (17-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) stepped in. Scheduled to face Leon Edwards in a UFC Fight Night headliner on March 22 in London, Della Maddalena has been replaced by Sean Brady.
Della Maddalena now gets a title shot a little over three years after his promotional debut. Notable wins in the UFC include Gilbert Burns and Kevin Holland.
Shevchenko (24-4-1 MMA, 13-3-1 UFC) will face someone not named Alexa Grasso for the first time in four appearances. Shevchenko and Grasso engaged in a trilogy during which they split the appearances at 1-1-1. Shevchenko currently has the last laugh, however, as she won the title back from Grasso in September.
Fiorot (12-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) could become the first French champion should she win. No opponent has been able to be her thus far in the UFC, as Fiorot has racked up wins over Erin Blanchfield and Rose Namajunas among others.
Also, a welterweight bout between Gilbert Burns (22-8 MMA, 15-8 UFC) and Michael Morales (17-0 MMA, 5-0 UFC) that was originally expected for UFC 314 in Miami shifts to UFC 315 Montreal. That moves the total amount of publicly known fights to seven.
With the additions, the UFC 315 lineup includes:
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 315.
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Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena, Valentina Shevchenko vs. Manon Fiorot headline UFC 315
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Belal Muhammad defends his welterweight title for the first time against an unexpected opponent in Jack Della Maddalena in the new main event just announced for UFC 315 on May 10 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
In addition to the main event, Valentina Shevchenko puts her flyweight title up for grabs when she faces Manon Fiorot in the five-round co-main event. The card also features a matchup pitting Gilbert Burns against Michael Morales.
UFC CEO Dana White announced the pairings during an Instagram Live video Wednesday night.
Muhammad faces off with Della Maddalena after the UFC was unable to book Shavkat Rakhmonov in the main event due to injury.
That forced the promotion to shift Della Maddalena into the title fight, which pulled him out of the UFC London main event against Leon Edwards where he was originally scheduled to compete. Edwards now faces Sean Brady instead.
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Muhammad makes his first title defense after a nasty foot injury prevented him from fighting this past December at UFC 310. He now faces Della Maddalena, who is undefeated in the UFC with a perfect 7-0 record.
As for the co-main event, Shevchenko finally moves on from her rivalry with Alexa Grasso and now defends her flyweight title against Fiorot, who comes into the fight with seven straight wins since joining the UFC roster including victories over Erin Blanchfield and Rose Namajunas.
UFC 315 goes down from Bell Centre in Montreal on May 10 with the card airing live on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
