MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JULY 27: Belal Muhammad reacts after his victory against Leon Edwards of … More
The next pay-per-view card on the 2025 UFC schedule is UFC 315, which takes place on Saturday, May 10, at Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The PPV card marks the promotion’s first fight card in Montreal in over 10 years. The last time the UFC visited Montreal was in April 2015, when a flyweight title fight between then-champion Demetrious Johnson and Kyoji Horiguchi headlined UFC 186. Two title fights set atop UFC 315. In the main event, Belal Muhammad puts his UFC welterweight title on the line against Jack Della Maddalena. Meanwhile, Valentina Shevchenko defends her flyweight belt against Manon Fiorot in the co-main event. Below, we look at the PPV card for the UFC UFC 315 fight card.
UFC 315 PPV Card
Belal Muhammad vs. Jack Della Maddalena
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Manon Fiorot
Jose Aldo vs. Aiemann Zahabi
Alexa Grasso vs. Natália Silva
Benoit Saint Denis vs. Joel Alvarez
UFC 315 Fight Card Main Event: Belal Muhammad Vs. Jack Della Maddalena
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – JULY 28: Belal Muhammad looks on in the UFC welterweight championship bout … More
Belal Muhammad (24-3-0-1) joined the UFC with a perfect 9-0 record. Not long after Muhammad claimed the Titan FC welterweight crown, the UFC came knocking. Muhammad signed with the promotion in 2016. At the time, he was 27. Bloody Elbow described him as, “In the cage he is largely a volume puncher, tending to work at the edges of range keeping a constant jab going and working behind it. He does well to work a kicking game in with his boxing, and puts some real power behind those kicks, but the focus is definitely on being a combination puncher. To that end, Muhammad does a good job feinting and changing rhythm, to keep his opponent from guessing his timing too easily.
“Muhammad uses his footwork well at range, circling away, maintaining distance and not walking himself into the pocket. As such he’s got pretty solid takedown defense. His focus is on accuracy and timing, and he rarely puts himself in a bad position to be taken down. Just because of his style, Muhammad hasn’t been much of a finisher to date in his MMA career, but he’s got the kind of style that’s great for breaking down opponents over time.”
Muhammad had a rough go of things in the UFC. He went 1-2 with his losses, a decision to Alan Jouban, and a knockout setback at the hands of Vicente Luque, bookending a TKO victory over Augusto Montaño. The loss to Jouban, Muhammad’s UFC debut, earned the combatants “Fight of the Night” honors.
After the loss to Luque, Muhammad won four straight decisions. That winning streak ended in 2019 when Geoff Neal topped Muhammad via decision. That loss is the most recent blemish on Muhammad’s record.
The 36-year-old is on a 10-0-0-1 run since then. Following the loss to Neal, Muhammad went 4-0. That run put him in the main event of UFC Vegas 21 opposite Leon Edwards. At the time, Edwards was the No. 3 competitor in the official UFC welterweight rankings, while Muhammad checked in at No. 13. Edwards was a -270 betting favorite, while Muhammad was the +220 betting underdog.
The contest did not last long as Edwards poked Muhammad in the eye 18 seconds into the second round. The eye poke left Muhammad unable to continue, and the fight was ruled a no contest.
Over the next two years, Muhammad rang up five more victories against progressively tougher competition. He defeated Demian Maia, Stephen Thompson, Vicente Luque, Sean Brady, and Gilbert Burns during that run. The triumph over Burns earned Muhammad the No. 2 ranking in the division and a date with Edwards at UFC 304. Edwards was the reigning UFC welterweight champion at the time and was looking to make a third defense of that belt against Muhammad. Edwards was on a 12-fight unbeaten run when he stepped into the Octagon as the -265 favorite over the +215 Muhammad.
After the fight, which Muhammad won via decision, I wrote, “Belal Muhammad had the perfect game plan for Leon Edwards at UFC 304. Not only did he and his team have that strategy mapped out, but Muhammad seamlessly executed that plan of attack.
Muhammad used pressure and high-output striking to remove time and space from Edwards. That approach forced Edwards to retreat, and once Muhammad had his opponent’s back to the fence, he added his wrestling and ground control to the mix.
Edwards landed a decent percentage of his strikes at 66 percent, but the pressure from Muhammad limited his attempts to just 71 significant strikes. Edwards threw over 100 strikes in his two most recent bouts. Muhammad was especially effective in his wrestling, racking up nine takedowns on 13 attempts and picking up 12:02 of control time.
“With the win, Muhammad won the UFC welterweight title and extended his unbeaten streak to 11 fights. His last loss came in January 2019, when Geoff Neal defeated him via decision.”
Muhammad was booked to face Shavkat Rakhmonov at UFC 310, but a bone infection prevented Muhammad from competing on that card. With Rakhmonov unable to compete at UFC 314, the UFC opted to book Muhammad against Della Maddalena in Montreal.
MIAMI, FLORIDA – MARCH 09: Jack Della Maddalena of Australia reacts after his TKO over Gilbert Burns … More
Jack Della Maddalena (17-2) signed with the UFC in September 2021 following a decision win over Ange Loosa on a Dana White’s Contender Series card. Before the bout, UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby said of Della Maddalena, “I thinkDella Maddalena is probably the best prospect out of New Zealand or Australia at welterweight. He’s a big guy. He throws a ton of offense, and he’s really good in the clinch. The win over Loosa marked the first time Della Maddalena had won a fight via decision. He went into the bout on a run of nine stoppages (eight knockouts, one submission) after opening his professional career at 0-2 with two stoppage setbacks. Della Maddalena was the reigning and defending Eternal MMA welterweight titleholder heading into the DWCS card.
The Australian scrapper opened his official UFC run with four first-round stoppage wins and three “Performance of the Night” bonuses. He finished Pete Rodriguez, Ramazan Emeev, and Danny Roberts by knockout before stopping Randy Brown via submission.
In his first fight to go the distance under the UFC banner, Della Maddalena was in a “Fight of the Night” bonus-winning affair with Bassil Hafez, which Della Maddalena won via split decision. He followed that with another split decision, topping Kevin Holland in September 2023.
The 28-year-old got to finishing fights in his most recent outing, knocking out former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns in the third round of their UFC 299 meeting.
I wrote of Della Maddalena’s “Performance of the Night” bonus-winning stoppage, “Jack Della Maddalena was focused and poised throughout his matchup with the higher-ranked Gilbert Burns. The 27-year-old’s striking was on point throughout the fight. He used combinations and mixed up his targets well. Even when things were not going his way, thanks to Burns’ grappling skills, Della Maddalena never panicked. That composure led to him landing a knee in the third round after a scramble to get off the mat and setting up the ground strikes that finished the fight at the 3:43 mark of Round 3.
“Della Maddalena showed a gap in his overall skills in this fight, struggling with his defensive grappling, but at just 27, the Australian has time to shore up that weakness in the future.
“Look for Della Maddalena to jump up in the official UFC welterweight rankings following UFC 299, as he entered the fight at No. 11, and Burns was No. 4. He is now 7-0 in the UFC and 17-2 as a pro.
“Also, it must be noted, that Burns was up 20-18 on two scorecards heading into the third round.
Della Maddalena is the No. 5 fighter in the official UFC welterweight rankings heading into UFC 315.
UFC 315 Fight Card C0-Main Event: Valentina Shevchenko Vs. Manon Fiorot
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – SEPTEMBER 14: Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan reacts following her fight … More
Valentina Shevchenko (24-4-1) has been with the UFC since December 2015, when the promotion signed her as a short-notice replacement for Germaine de Randamie against Sarah Kaufman on a UFC on FOX card. Shevchenko won that bantamweight fight by split decision.
Shevchenko stayed at 135 for her next four fights, going 2-2. Her wins came against former UFC champ Holly Holm and future titleholder Julianna Pena. Her losses, both by decision, came against Amanda Nunes, including a September 2017 split decision setback against then-champ Nunes.
Following her loss to Nunes, Shevchenko dropped to 125 pounds and went on one of the most impressive runs in the history of the UFC women’s divisions.
She put an absolute beating on Priscila Cachoeira in her UFC 125-pound debut. In her next fight, Shevchenko faced ex-women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the vacant flyweight title. Shevchenko won that scrap via decision.
She then defended her title seven times before falling to Grasso at UFC 285. The two then fought to a split draw in a September 2023 scrap. The trilogy fight between the two saw Shevchenko walk away from UFC 306 with the title back in her hands.
Shevchenko holds the following records in the UFC women’s flyweight division:
Most wins: 10
Most KO/TKO wins: 4
Longest winning streak: 9
Most title fight wins: 9
Most fight time: 3:42:47
Most control time: 1:25:33
Most top position time: 1:14:08
Fewest strikes absorbed per minute: 1.75
Total strikes landed: 1,790
Takedowns landed: 47
ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY – MARCH 30: Manon Fiorot of France reacts after her unanimous-decision … More
Manon Fiorot (12-1) enters her second UFC main event with a perfect 7-0 record with the promotion. The 35-year-old is the No. 2 ranked fighter in the official UFC women’s 125-pound rankings.
Fiorot, a former UAE Warrior’s flyweight champ, joined the UFC in 2021. In her first fight with the promotion, Fiorot defeated Victoria Leonardo via knockout. Since then, she has steadily climbed the rankings.
In her past two bouts, Fiorot has defeated former UFC champion Rose Namajunas and rising Erin Blanchfield, who was on a nine-fight winning streak heading into their UFC Fight Night main event in March 2024. Fiorot has not competed since she topped Blanchfield by decision in that five-round scrap.
We will more on the UFC 315 fight card as fight night approaches.