UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad expects to dominate Jack Della Maddalena.
Muhammad (24-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) makes his first title defense against Della Maddalena (17-2 MMA, 7-0 UFC) in the UFC 315 main event May 10 at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Della Maddalena, who’s on a 17-fight winning streak and unbeaten in the octagon, is known for his crisp boxing. However, Muhammad likes how he matches up against the Aussie wherever the fight goes.
“If I’m being honest with you, I’m better everywhere,” Muhammad said on his “Remember The Show” podcast. “People are going to say, ‘Oh, he’s got hands, he’s got hands,’ but I think they just underestimate my hands and my striking. I just went against the best striker in the UFC in Leon Edwards, so called. I train with the best striker in the UFC in Igancio Bahamondes. I train with Yair Rodriguez.
“Both these guys, you’ve seen them spar – they’re a different level. So when I have a guy who’s basic in Jack, who’s just boxing, (I’m not worried). He has really good hands, he’s got good power, but he breaks these guys down because he hasn’t fought anybody like me. His biggest weakness is his experience. He’s never been in a big fight like that.”
Della Maddalena was pulled from his UFC Fight Night 255 headliner against Leon Edwards March 22 in London after Shavkat Rakhmonov couldn’t make the May 10 title fight due to injury. Muhammad expects his experience to play a big factor.
“He hasn’t had a pressure fight yet. He hasn’t fought a pressure fighter yet,” Muhammad said. “I think I’m going to go in there and I’m going to walk through him like I thought I was going to do to everybody else, and like I’ve done to everybody else.”
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