Muhammad hardly broke a sweat in his dismantling of former champion, Leon Edwards. Despite all that pre-fight talk about his “Canelo Hands,” which nobody is falling for, Muhammad is a punishing wrestler with a seemingly limitless gas tank. Kamaru Usman and Georges St-Pierre hold most of the welterweight records, thanks to their tenure at 170 pounds, but Muhammad is nestled in or around the Top 5 in every major category and getting closer to the top spot with each performance. Jack Della Maddalena was not the promotion’s first choice when it came time to elect a new challenger for Muhammad’s throne. Fortunately for the Aussie, Shavkat Rakhmonov blew out his knee and was unable to answer the call, forcing matchmakers to scramble for a new main event — at the expense of UFC London. That tells me that UFC believed Maddalena — who was also sidelined with a serious injury — needed more time under the lamps.
What we’ve seen thus far from the 28 year-old boxer has been impressive. After scoring a contract on Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in late 2021, Maddalena went on to rack up seven straight wins for UFC, five of which ended by way of knockout or submission. Split decisions against the unheralded Bassil Hafez and the hot-and-cold Kevin Holland are concerning, though you can argue they were nullified by his knockout finish over Gilbert Burns at UFC 299 in March 2024 — depending on whether or not you think “Durinho” is washed at 38 years old after losing three straight. Coming out of her Lauren Murphy victory at UFC 266 back in late 2021, Valentina Shevchenko looked invincible, compiling eight straight wins with five violent knockouts. Then came her controversial split decision victory over Brazilian powerhouse Taila Santos, though now that Santos has popped for steroids, we may have an explanation as to why “Bullet” struggled mightily to win that fight. We don’t however, have any excuses for her submission loss to Alexa Grasso, or the draw that followed it after their Noche UFC rematch. Shevchenko would recapture the crown by outworking Grasso at UFC 306; but again, fans and pundits were left wondering what happened to the dominant champion who was regularly racking up finishes.
Perhaps Grasso was just that good, or maybe “Bullet,” who turned 37 back in March, is starting to show signs of decline after a combat sports career that dates all the way back to early 2003 and includes lengthy runs in both kickboxing and Muay Thai. This fight is likely to provide that answer as Shevchenko faces a striker in Manon Fiorot who boasts a similar background: kickboxing, Muay Thai, and eventually, MMA. “The Beast” does not have as much experience as Shevchenko, but you can argue that she doesn’t have the same mileage on her tires, either. That could be the difference maker when the damage starts to accumulate in what is scheduled for five, five-minute rounds.
For the first time in nearly three years, former UFC flyweight champion Alexa Grasso will fight someone not named Valentina Shevchenko. This stands to be an important fight for Grasso’s career, specifically her future in the 125-pound title hunt, because it will prove one of two things: either Grasso is the second best flyweight in the division or just a really bad matchup for Shevchenko. I’m leaning toward the former based on the work Grasso did prior to her “Bullet” trilogy, which included four straight wins over increasingly difficult competition. It’s hard to believe this is the same fighter who was defeated by Felice Herrig at strawweight back in early 2017, which just goes to show how far the Mexican prodigy has come over the years. That said, Grasso has horrendously porous defense when it comes to wrestling and has been taken down 33 times in her UFC career. It’s also worth pointing out that she failed to make any adjustments in her Shevchenko fights, allowing “Bullet” to pull away in their final confrontation. This fight boils down to how well Grasso rebounds from her Shevchenko loss. She’s still just 31 years old (Silva is 28) and can fight as well on the feet as she can on the ground. Barring a spectacular performance from the Brazilian. Grasso’s grit and big-game experience should prove to be the difference maker in Montreal.
UFC 315 Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena PPV Pay Per View May 10th 2025 Match Card.
