Wednesday was a busy day for UFC as CEO Dana White delivered a series of blockbuster announcements, including news of Muhammad’s first defense of his welterweight title. In July, ‘Remember The Name’ delivered a mostly dominant performance against Leon Edwards to claim his first UFC gold.
Now, he’ll put it on the line against the division’s fourth-ranked contender, Jack Della Maddalena, at UFC 315 in Montreal.
The announcement came out of left field considering Maddalena was actually scheduled to headline the promotion’s return to London next month against none other than Leon Edwards.
Instead, ‘Rocky’ will now square off with Sean Brady inside the iconic O2 Arena while Maddalena will get promoted to his inaugural title opportunity on MMA’s biggest stage.
Following the announcement, Muhammad went on social media and threw some shade at the man he took the welterweight belt from last year.
Belal Muhammad looks to hand JDM his first loss inside the Octagon
Muhammad was originally scheduled to defend his belt in December against Shavkat Rakhmonov, but he was forced to bow out of the bout due to an infection in his foot. Unfortunately, ‘Nomad’ revealed that he was still nursing an injury and would be unable to go on May 10 when the UFC heads back to the Bell Centre.
Enter Jack Della Maddalena.
The Australian knockout artist is a perfect 7-0 under the UFC banner, including a third-round TKO over one-time title challenger Gilbert Burns in his last outing at UFC 299.
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping believes Sean Brady is a more difficult matchup for Leon Edwards than Jack Della Maddalena. In recent developments, UFC boss Dana White took to Instagram and made a massive 14-fight announcement, including three main events for the upcoming UFC London, UFC 314, and UFC 315 cards. The announcement also […]
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping believes Sean Brady is a more difficult matchup for Leon Edwards than Jack Della Maddalena.
In recent developments, UFC boss Dana White took to Instagram and made a massive 14-fight announcement, including three main events for the upcoming UFC London, UFC 314, and UFC 315 cards.
The announcement also included a big change for the UFC Fight Night 254 main event. Originally, Edwards was scheduled to face the No. 4-ranked welterweight Maddalena in London on March 22, 2025. However, after Maddalena’s shift to UFC 315, “Rocky” will face a short-notice replacement in Brady who is coming off consecutive decision wins over Gilbert Burns and Kelvin Gastelum.
Bisping believes this upheaval can make things worse for Edwards who would definitely want to enter the win column after soundly losing his UFC welterweight title to Belal Muhammad.
“Della Maddalena versus Leon—that’s off, and Sean Brady steps in. This is kind of a nightmare situation for Leon Edwards. I’m not saying Leon can’t beat him, but stylistically, and on short notice, this is a very, very different fight and potentially a harder fight than Jack Della Maddalena. Styles make fights. Leon is a sniper on the feet. Of course, he’s got great takedown defense. He was able to take down Kamaru Usman, fully mounted, and all the rest of it, right? We know he’s well-rounded.”
Although Bisping is confident about Edwards’s accurate striking, he is concerned about Brady’s wrestling-heavy style which is very different from Maddalena’s crisp boxing.
“But when you’re training for Jack Della Maddalena and you’re focusing on boxing and pretty much a standup affair, and you’re not really working on the takedown defense and defending chokes and all the variety of madness in the Jiu-Jitsu world that Sean Brady does offer, it’s a big mix-up. Now granted, all the work that he’s done in the past to beat Kamaru Usman, to fight and go up against Belal Muhammad—that’s all in the tank, okay? It’s like if you go out there and you win a fight really, really quickly, and people think, “Why did I bother? Why did I bother training?” No, the reason you did that is because you still leveled up in training camp. Your skill set overall got better.”
Talking about Edward’s previous opponents, Bisping further added how Brady would bring in problems similar to the current champ Muhammad.
“So, Leon’s been preparing for these kinds of fights his entire career, right? Everyone that Leon Edwards fights, whether it’s Colby Covington, Kamaru Usman, Belal Muhammad—they’re all trying to take him down. So, in a way, nothing changes for him. Yes, it’s not Jack Della Maddalena trying to box him, trying to piece him up on the feet. It’s Sean Brady, who’s very, very good, that dominated Gilbert Burns last time out, that’s going to be looking to take him down. So, it’s the exact same fight, essentially, almost on paper, stylistically, that Leon had in Manchester last year when he lost the belt. That’s why I say it’s a bit of a nightmare.”
However, Bisping is impressed with Edward’s will to accept Brady as a new opponent on short notice even when it could potentially ruin his return to the UFC welterweight title picture.
A new main event is set to go down in London next month after Jack Della Maddalena was announced as the next challenger to UFC Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad’s reign. Della Maddalena was originally set to headline on March 22 in England’s capital in a likely title eliminator opposite Leon Edwards. But among a slew […]
A new main event is set to go down in London next month after Jack Della Maddalena was announced as the next challenger to UFC Welterweight Champion Belal Muhammad’s reign.
Della Maddalena was originally set to headline on March 22 in England’s capital in a likely title eliminator opposite Leon Edwards. But among a slew of announcements Thursday night, UFC CEO Dana White revealed that the Australian has been replaced by Sean Brady.
Rather than injury or travel issues causing the chance, Della Maddalena has found himself with an unexpected opportunity to capture gold next time out.
The striking specialist will headline UFC 315 in Montreal on May 10 in competition for Muhammad’s title due to an injury to number one contender Shavkat Rakhmonov.
“Nomad” has now seen two planned championship chances slip away. He was originally set to compete for the gold last December before a bone infection forced Muhammad out on late notice. He subsequently beat Ian Garry to further cement his claim to the next shot.
The Kazakh fighter will now be waiting in the wings to face the winner, as Della Maddalena looks to ride his undefeated UFC record all the way to the top in the “Great White North.”
Former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards recently spoke about postcode wars that have plagued England and other countries, including…
Former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards recently spoke about postcode wars that have plagued England and other countries, including Jamaica where ‘Rocky’ spent much of his youth before moving to the UK.
For those unfamiliar, the postcode wars refer to a time when groups of teenagers, usually boys, would defend their “turf” by fighting gangs from other postal codes if they dared to enter a postcode they did not reside in. It’s not entirely different from the turf wars between rival gangs in the United States like the Crips and the Bloods that dominated American television in the mid-to-late 90s.
And just like with many of the big-name gangs in the U.S., kids and young adults in the UK would often put their lives on the line for what essentially amounted to a fierce pride in the area they called home and a consequential hate of anyone who wasn’t from there.
Unfortunately, gang culture is still as strong as ever in countries like England and Australia, often resulting in property damage, serious injury, and even death.
During a recent interview with Louis Theroux, Edwards spoke about his tough upbringing in Jamaica and on the mean streets of Birmingham where he often fought rivals entrenching on his turf.
“From school, you know, I’ve always—I’m the one that always, um—I’m the friend that, like, if you’re next to me, you’re in the fight. ‘Cause, you know, I won’t leave you, you know? And, um, so I had the name ‘Rocky’ from school,” Edwards said. “Straightener, just one-on-one. I don’t know, could—could be anything, or postcode, or whatever. It is weird, but at the time, I truly believed it.
“Um, I was group Erdington, say, like, B23. With a young mentality, and your friends are doing the same thing, and that’s your environment, I think you’re more likely to be a product of your environment. It’s like, same as Jamaica, you know? Like, there, the people that have died over it probably don’t even know the reason why it started. And they’ve died over it.”
Leon Edwards returns to the octagon on March 22
Of course, those days are long behind Leon Edwards. Today, ‘Rocky’ is one of the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artists on the planet.
After seeing his 12-fight win streak snapped by Belal Muhammad in his last outing, Edwards will return to the Octagon on March 22 when the UFC heads back to London for another stacked Fight Night in ‘The Big Smoke.’ In the main event of the evening, Edwards will face rising contender Jack Della Maddalena in a title eliminator — at least on Maddalena’s side of things.
Former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards recently spoke about postcode wars that have plagued England and other countries, including…
Former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards recently spoke about postcode wars that have plagued England and other countries, including Jamaica where ‘Rocky’ spent much of his youth before moving to the UK.
For those unfamiliar, the postcode wars refer to a time when groups of teenagers, usually boys, would defend their “turf” by fighting gangs from other postal codes if they dared to enter a postcode they did not reside in. It’s not entirely different from the turf wars between rival gangs in the United States like the Crips and the Bloods that dominated American television in the mid-to-late 90s.
And just like with many of the big-name gangs in the U.S., kids and young adults in the UK would often put their lives on the line for what essentially amounted to a fierce pride in the area they called home and a consequential hate of anyone who wasn’t from there.
Unfortunately, gang culture is still as strong as ever in countries like England and Australia, often resulting in property damage, serious injury, and even death.
During a recent interview with Louis Theroux, Edwards spoke about his tough upbringing in Jamaica and on the mean streets of Birmingham where he often fought rivals entrenching on his turf.
“From school, you know, I’ve always—I’m the one that always, um—I’m the friend that, like, if you’re next to me, you’re in the fight. ‘Cause, you know, I won’t leave you, you know? And, um, so I had the name ‘Rocky’ from school,” Edwards said. “Straightener, just one-on-one. I don’t know, could—could be anything, or postcode, or whatever. It is weird, but at the time, I truly believed it.
“Um, I was group Erdington, say, like, B23. With a young mentality, and your friends are doing the same thing, and that’s your environment, I think you’re more likely to be a product of your environment. It’s like, same as Jamaica, you know? Like, there, the people that have died over it probably don’t even know the reason why it started. And they’ve died over it.”
Leon Edwards returns to the octagon on March 22
Of course, those days are long behind Leon Edwards. Today, ‘Rocky’ is one of the best pound-for-pound mixed martial artists on the planet.
After seeing his 12-fight win streak snapped by Belal Muhammad in his last outing, Edwards will return to the Octagon on March 22 when the UFC heads back to London for another stacked Fight Night in ‘The Big Smoke.’ In the main event of the evening, Edwards will face rising contender Jack Della Maddalena in a title eliminator — at least on Maddalena’s side of things.
Former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards’ disdain for Belal Muhammad hasn’t appeared to dissipate in the months on from their title showdown in Manchester. Edwards and Muhammad ran their rivalry back last July in England, sharing the Octagon again three years on from a UFC Fight Night headliner at the Apex that ended in a […]
Former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards’ disdain for Belal Muhammad hasn’t appeared to dissipate in the months on from their title showdown in Manchester.
Edwards and Muhammad ran their rivalry back last July in England, sharing the Octagon again three years on from a UFC Fight Night headliner at the Apex that ended in a disappointing no contest.
With animosity from that clash continuing to build, there was certainly no love lost between the pair when “Remember the Name” challenged for “Rocky’s” 170-pound gold at UFC 304 inside the Co-op Live.
The Jamaica-born Brit has repeatedly expressed his desire to exact revenge on Muhammad, and he expects to earn the chance to do so by defeating Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC Fight Night London main event next month.
Despite how their second bout unfolded, Edwards still doesn’t have much respect for the champ’s skillset, believing he’ll make a quick return to the throne.
During an appearance on The Louis Theroux Podcast, Edwards was asked the old-age question of who he perceives to be the greatest fighter. This time, however, the topic also strayed to the worst, providing “Rocky” with the chance to take a jab at his arch-nemisis.
“For me, I would say Jon Jones,” Edwards said when discussing the best fighter of all time. “My second best is Anderson Silva.
“(Worst?) Belal… I’d love to run it back,” Edwards continued. “Normal time. I’d love to run it back again (in 2025).”
“Rocky” will look to prove that as the key factor in last year’s result by working his way back to the top and levelling the score with Muhammad in their ongoing feud.
For the time being, Edwards will need to have full focus on the dangerous Della Maddalena. Muhammad, meanwhile, is expected to figure in a rearranged showdown with Shavkat Rakhmonov for his delayed first title defense.
Former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards recently spoke about postcode wars that have plagued England and other countries, including…
