Belal Muhammad has his first UFC Welterweight title defence when he takes on Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315.
The tension between Jack Della Maddalena and Belal Muhammad has heated up in recent weeks, despite starting off tamely when the UFC 315 main event was announced. Maddalena called Muhammad boring in the build-up as they moved closer towards stepping into the octagon together for the first time.
After Muhammad’s fight at UFC 310 was called off, there was some confusion as to when his first title defense would be. As it turns out, Maddalena will be his first challenger, putting his undefeated record in UFC on the line for a chance to become the UFC Welterweight Champion.
Meanwhile, Valentina Shevchenko defends her UFC Women’s Flyweight title against Manon Fiorot in the co-main event. Shevchenko is coming off the back of a trio of fights against Alexa Grasso, coming out on top in the final fight after a loss, draw and victory.
As the top pound-for-pound female fighter, Shevchenko will be the favorite against Fiorot in Canada. However, the French fighter is undefeated in the UFC and with five back-to-back decision wins has proved she has the cardio to go the full five rounds with anybody in the octagon.
Meanwhile, the card also includes an exciting fight between Gilbert Burns and Michael Morales. Burns is coming off the back of three losses in a row, which will put him in the sights of a knockout artist like Morales at UFC 315.
What time does UFC 315 start?
UFC 315 will take place at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on May 3.
The event will start with the early preliminaries at 6:00 PM (ET), 3:00 PM (PT), and 11:00 PM (BST).
Then, the preliminaries at 8:00 PM (ET), 5:00 PM (PT), and 01:00 AM (BST).
Following on from that, the main card gets underway at 10:00 PM (ET), 7:00 PM (PT), and 03:00 AM (BST).
How to watch and live stream UFC 315?
In the US, the UFC 315 early prelims will be available to watch on the UFC Fight Pass from 6:00 PM (ET). The preliminaries can be watched on ESPN, while both the prelims and the main card will be able to be streamed through ESPN+. The PPV will cost viewers $79.99.
Over in the UK, fans will be able to watch the prelims through the UFC Fight Pass from 11:00 PM (BST) before switching over to TNT Sports for coverage of the main card from 01:00 AM (BST).
UFC 315 – Who’s fighting?
Main Card
- Welterweight – Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena
- Women’s Flyweight – Valentina Shevchenko vs. Manon Fiorot
- Welterweight – Gilbert Burns vs. Michael Morales
- Women’s Flyweight – Alexa Grasso vs. Natalia Silva
Prelims
- Bantamweight – Jose Aldo vs. Aiemann Zahabi
- Light Heavyweight – Modestas Bukauskas vs. Ion Cutelaba
- Welterweight – Mike Mallot vs. Charles Radtke
- Women’s Flyweight – Jessica Andrade vs. Jasmine Jasudavicius
Early prelims
- Light Heavyweight – Navajo Sterling vs. Ivan Erslan
- Middleweight – Marc-Andre Barriault vs. Bruno Silva
- Bantamweight – Brad Katona vs. Bekzat Almakhan
Muhammad mocked Maddalena over his fight fundraiser
Muhammad is disliked by fans for his fight style, which he uses to grind down his opponents rather than go for flashy wins.
If that didn’t make him unpopular with them, then recently social media posts aimed towards Maddalena will definitely make him more hated.
With the announcement of Maddalena holding a fundraiser to get his coaching team to come with him to UFC 315, Muhammad took to X (formerly known as Twitter) to mock his efforts.
This trash-talking didn’t go well, with Kamara Usman comparing Muhammad to Colby Covington for his comments about the Australian’s fundraising campaign.
