Australian rising star Jack Della Maddalena has shocked the world by beating Belal Muhammad for the welterweight championship at UFC 315 card in Canada.
Della Maddalena, who is undefeated in the UFC, won the title bout by decision after five grueling rounds.
The fight was Della Maddalena’s first outing since breaking his left forearm in a TKO win over Gilbert Burns in March last year.
Infection after infection meant Della Maddalena required four different bouts of surgery, putting him out of action for 14 months.
For the first time in history, Australia now has two UFC champions at the same time – with Alex Volkanovski winning the featherweight crown last month.
Jack Della Maddalena has beaten Belal Muhammad for the UFC welterweight championship
The West Aussie won the bout by decision after five grueling rounds
For the first time in history, Australia now has two UFC champions at the same time
‘It’s exactly how I thought it would feel, it feel’s f***ing good,’ he said afterwards.
‘I knew I had to be smart on my feet. I should have been a bit sharper with the shots.
‘Coming in there against someone like Belal with that pressure wrestling, I knew I had to be smart.
‘I thought I was ahead, I wanted to take him out of there. Belal’s the man, he’s a tough dude. Australia we got three of these babies let’s go!’
Della Maddalena executed a perfect gameplan against the wrestler, using excellent footwork and takedown defense to keep it standing.
His boxing frustrated Muhammad who tried hard for a finish in the final round.
‘That will do it, what a fight… they go the distance in an epic clash,’ commentator Jon Anik said.
Daniel Cormier added: ‘I don’t ever want to hear Muhammad is boring anymore, he fought’.
Lightweight champion Islam Makhachev is now expected to move up to 170 pounds to challenge the Australian.
More to come…