Jack Della Maddalena beat Belal Muhammad via unanimous decision to wrest away the welterweight championship in the main event at Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 315 on Saturday night.
Della Maddalena (18-2-0) extended his fight win streak to 18 with a 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 decision.
The loss ended Muhammad’s 11-fight streak dating to January 2019.
Photo: Eric Bolte / Imagn Images
“He brings the pressure, you know, I knew I had to be smart,” the Australian said.
In the co-main event, two-time UFC flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko (25-4-1) defended her belt against No. 2 contender Manon Fiorot (12-2) of France.
All three judges scored it 48-47.
“I was expecting a hard fight, she’s a good fighter,” the 37-year-old from Kyrgyzstan said.
“I’m going to keep going. Numbers is nothing. What is more important is how you feel physically, mentally, how you perform,” she said.
Aiemann Zahabi shocked UFC Hall of Famer Jose Aldo in a featherweight main card fight, after which Aldo announced his retirement.
Zahabi (13-2) won by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) and the Canadian has now won six straight fights.
The fight was originally scheduled to be disputed at the bantamweight division, but was changed to featherweight on Friday after both fighters checked in above the weight limit.
Aldo (32-10), of Brazil, announced his retirement from mixed martial arts fighting after a 21-year career.
“I don’t think I have it in me anymore,” Aldo said through a translator.
Saturday’s card was the first in Canada since US President Donald Trump’s election victory in November last year. It comes amid growing political tensions between Canada and the US, as Trump has repeatedly suggested that Canada should become the 51st US state, and some of that tension spilt over.
Canadian Mike Malott (12-2-1) won his fight with American Charles Radtke (10-5) by knockout 26 seconds into the second round of their welterweight bout. Malott took down Radtke with a clean left hook and would not let up, striking his opponent with repeated follow-up blows to seal the knockout.
Radtke was met with jeers and curses from fans throughout the fight in response to comments he made to Canadian fans at a pre-fight news conference on Wednesday and the booing of The Star-Spangled Banner at Canadian sporting events in recent months.
“When you all boo the national anthem, somebody’s gonna have to pay for that,” Radtke said.
In the women’s flyweight division, Canadian Jasmine Jasudavicius (14-3) took down Brazilian Jessia Andrade (26-14) by submission halfway through the first round.
“When I was preparing for this fight, I kept on thinking about it being a quick finish,” Jasudavicius said. “I kept on telling myself to be ready for 15 hard minutes and everything.”
Marc-Andre Barriault (17-9) also knocked out opponent Bruno Silva (23-13) 1:27 into the opening round of their middleweight bout with an elbow strike to the side of Silva’s head. Silva left the octagon on a stretcher.
Benoit Saint Denis (14-3) beat Kyle Prepolec (12-8) by submission in the opening main card fight. The Frenchman took down the Canadian with an arm-triangle choke midway through the second round.
Prepolec only found out less than two weeks ago that he would be fighting in Montreal. The 35-year-old was called in to replace Joel Alvarez, who has a hand injury.
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
Ollie Watkins’ second-half header on Thursday gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille OSC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie. Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendia headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper Berke Ozer was off his line before sending a looping header over him and into the net. Minutes later, Watkins wasted a chance to double the advantage when he failed to score in a one-on-one with the ’keeper. Nottingham Forest were stunned 1-0 by Danish club Midtjylland, with substitute Cho
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Brice Turang and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s consecutive RBI singles proved to be the difference in the US’ 5-3 win over Canada in a World Baseball Classic (WBC) quarterfinal on Friday night in Houston. The US faces the Dominican Republic, which crushed South Korea 10-0 in seven innings in its quarter-final, in a semifinal Sunday in Miami for a spot in Tuesday’s championship. The Dominican team has won all five games in this WBC by a combined margin of 51-10. It appeared the US squad was headed toward a cozy victory when it built a 5-0 lead by the sixth inning. A first-inning RBI groundout
RSS