UFC 315 report: Should Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev be next?

UFC 315 is in the books, and the UFC has a new welterweight champion.

On Saturday in Montreal, Jack Della Maddalena pulled off the upset, winning a unanimous decision over Belal Muhammad to take over the top spot at 170 pounds. The win may have set up a superfight with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, which in turn might setup a Charles Oliveira vs. Ilia Topuria lightweight title fight.

Plus, in the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko added another notch to her belt, retaining her flyweight title with a unanimous decision win over Manon Fiorot, and possibly setting up her own superfight with strawweight champion Zhang Weili.

So with plenty to talk about coming off the latest pay-per-view entry, MMA Fighting once again gathered the brain trust to break down the big topics coming off of UFC 315.

1. What is your blurb review of UFC 315?

Heck: Underrated on paper, over-delivered on expectations, great main event that delivered absolute chaos — potentially (read on to see what I mean).

Lee: With apologies to my boy Big Donn Davis, this is what a professional fighters league-quality event looks like. Great fighters, high stakes, and plenty of fights for the home-country crowd to be invested in.

Meshew: This wasn’t the best card ever, but it was better than people wanted to admit, and look at all the interesting things this card set up.

2. Is Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev next? Should it be?

Lee: Boring answer, but yes. Not a boring fight, though, especially after what Della Maddalena showed he’s capable of.

Makhachev and Muhammad aren’t remotely an apples-to-apples comparison, but as Saturday’s main event progressed, and it became clearer that Della Maddalena was about to become the new champion, one started to wonder how the Australian power-puncher’s deft striking and shockingly improved takedown defense would fare against the best fighter in the world (and I’m not talking about Eddie Hall, though I’d pay good money to see Della Maddalena fight him, too).

So color me intrigued. I was all in on Makhachev vs. Topuria, but if this is the direction where headed in now, few should complain. We either add to Makhachev’s already impressive legacy, or find ourselves with a new superstar in Della Maddalena if he can pull off another big upset.

Heck: Should it be? Yes. Am I running to the betting window right now to unload the clip on it? Not at the moment — and there’s one big reason why.

It wasn’t announced after the main event.

I know, I know, I can read your comments now: ‘But, Dana didn’t show up at the press conference, so how could they have announced it?” As we know full well by now, Dana White doesn’t need a live microphone to announce news. On his way to catch his private jet back to Vegas, he could’ve hopped on Instagram and announced JDM vs. Islam for the welterweight strap for sometime later this year, and Topuria vs. Oliveira for the interim lightweight title for UFC 317.

But he didn’t, and that leads me to assume that Makhachev vs. Topuria is still the UFC’s top choice — which is, realistically (sorry Tom Aspinall), the biggest fight the UFC could put on with six weeks to spare to cap off International Fight Week. My mind says 60-40 JDM-Islam, but the vibes can’t have it much higher than that.

Meshew: One hundred percent it’s next.

I’m with Mike that Dana saying stuff doesn’t make it true, but here’s the thing: if you’re Islam, why would you accept anything else? You’re the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world, the new champion wants it, the other contenders are OK with it, and Dana did say it. So what possible reason would you have to accept any other fight?

If the UFC wasn’t OK with booking Islam vs. JDM next, Dana would have shut that down before UFC 315 and they’d have been full steam ahead on Islam vs. Ilia. But they didn’t and now the world all seems to agree this is what’s next. Why would they fight that? Is Ilia vs. Topuria that much bigger? Is it worth ruining your relationship with the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world? Of course not. And we all know the UFC isn’t going to just pay to make the fight happen, or else that Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall fight announcement wouldn’t be just a pipe dream. This fight is next, get on board.

As for whether it should happen, I’ll be honest, probably not. This is a good window for Islam, who doesn’t have an obvious next contender (I mean, there’s Arman but that’s a whole other kettle of fish), but the welterweight title picture is stacked right now and it would be better is Islam didn’t do this. But better isn’t what’s happening, this fight is.

3. How excited are you for Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili?

Heck: Extremely, because the women’s divisions need a big spark, and fast.

It stinks for “Natty Ice” who could absolutely fight for the belt next if Zhang isn’t available for whatever date the UFC wants to book, but we’re approaching “now or never” territory with this fight. Zhang has told me and many others if it were up to her, she’s heading up to 125. Let’s just cash that ticket now, then the influx of solid contenders on the rise can battle it out for the next few title shots throughout 2025.

Lee: Pretty excited! But not as excited as I am for Natalia Silva to get her shot.

One of my biggest takeaways from all of Saturday’s flyweight action – besides Jasmine Jasudavicius is a serious badass – is that Silva could absolutely beat Shevchenko. Her athletic striking style is incredibly difficult to deal with and she’s going to make you expend a lot of energy to take her down. She has a ton of charisma inside and outside of the cage, too, so if Shevchenko is to pass the torch to any 125er, Silva is the one.

Plus, I still want to see Zhang fight Virna Jandiroba, a more-than-worthy challenger and a compelling style matchup. You should never roll the dice when it comes to superfights and it would be a shame if we never saw Shevchenko and Zhang cross paths, but for me, the timing is just short of perfect.

Meshew: Pretty pumped. Valentina Shevchenko is at worst the third=greatest female fighter of all-time, and she’s still near the peak of her powers. Weili is at worst the fourth-greatest female fighter of all time, and she’s also near the peak of her powers. Shevchenko already had a pair of fights with the GOAT, Amanda Nunes, and now she can add another megafight with Zhang. And for Zhang, a win over Shevchenko opens up the “is she higher than four all-time” conversation.

Outside of Amanda Nunes returning to fight Kayla Harrison, this is the biggest fight that can be made in women’s MMA. Let’s do it.

4. How will you remember Jose Aldo’s career?

Heck: As the greatest featherweight of all-time, but a man who looked like he regretted his decision to re-sign with the UFC.

After Aldo lost in the worst piece of matchmaking in UFC history to Merab Dvalishvili, Aldo tipped the proverbial cap and called it a career in MMA — ready to take on the boxing world and make a lot of money. While he was able to scratch that itch three times in 2023, he still owed the UFC one last fight before he could be free and clear. They booked him perfectly against Jonathan Martinez in Rio in what was supposed to be his promotional swan song. Only problem? Aldo got UFC nostalgia and decided to return.

I want to preface the rest of this by saying it was tough to watch Aldo fight the Mario Bautista’s and Aiemann Zahabi’s of the world — although the latter was a great fight — but it’s not wholly the UFC’s fault. They didn’t expect Aldo to return, thus, we got what we got because Aldo wasn’t going to complain, or say no.

Halfway through the third round on Saturday, Aldo looked to be thinking to himself, “Man, I could’ve taken a bunch of boxing fights on Jake Paul undercards and made a huge bag.” And then to hear him assess his feeling about MMA after the controversial loss, and throughout fight week, it chipped away at the ol’ ticker. Salute to The King of Rio.

Lee: In his prime, as good a fighter as you’ve ever seen mix the martial arts. Aldo is one of the guys who made me fall in love with this crazy business. When I think of champions, his performances are always first and foremost in my mind.

There was a coolness to being on the Aldo train during the WEC days, like you were in on this secret that you’d get to brag about once he inevitably joined the UFC roster. You knew someone was down if you mentioned Aldo, and their face brightened up as much as your own. And he didn’t disappoint when he finally made it to the octagon (well, there was that one time WE WILL NEVER SPEAK OF AGAIN).

I’ll also remember him for a truly bizarre biopic which is built around an insanely unnecessary twist that I can only assume is 100 percent accurate and true to life.

Meshew: As the unquestioned greatest featherweight of all-time, one of the five greatest fighters to ever lace up the gloves (I believe he’s top three), the greatest defensive fighter ever, one of the most important fighters to the history of the sport, and a man with a singularly brilliant career that was massively meaningful to me.

I could write a book about how great and significant Aldo is, and I’ve spilled mountains of digital ink defending him already. But let me just say, this final act is arguably his most impressive feat. Aldo is a full decade removed from his peak as a fighter and still beating (he beat Aiemann Zahabi) Top 15 opposition in a harder weight class than where he started. That is virtually unheard of.

But I think we may not be quite done yet. Aldo’s retirement messages are not exactly definitive, saying “this may have been my last time in the Octagon,” instead of confirming it. I think after some time, Aldo will realize he’d like one more go and a proper retirement, with all the trappings. And the answer for what that looks like is painfully obvious: Aldo vs. Patricio Pitbull at featherweight in Rio. A final, glorious sendoff for one of the true legends of the sport.

5. What was the best moment of UFC 315?

Meshew: Jose Aldo soccer kicked a dude. Enough said.

Lee: I’m the resident Canuck, so how can I not tip my cap to Mike Malott, eh?

A slight nod to his opponent Charles Radtke as well for playing the ignorant and overly patriotic invader to a tee, increasing the interest in their preliminary closer tenfold. Radtke came off as a total jerk without crossing any serious lines (in my opinion). By the time they made their walk to the octagon, the crowd was thirsting for blood. But, you know, in a polite Canadian way.

You couldn’t have booked the result any better as Malott hammered Radtke in the second round and then cut a strong, peace-making promo afterward for good measure. Malott has been pushed as one of Canada’s new hopes, and while he stumbled the last time he fought up here, he’s firmly back on track.

Heck: As I typically do on these, I’m avoiding the low-hanging fruit and going with Jasmine Jasudavicius steamrolling Jessica Andrade.

Jasudavicius is a different kind of prodigy, one who found MMA way later than most, but she was a natural from the very beginning. As someone who was interviewing her while she was an amateur fighter, it’s wild to see how far she has come so quickly, and leaping over the bar of expectations people had for her from the very beginning.

She ran over a former champion, and not a bead of sweat appeared. Would love to see her get Grasso or Fiorot next.

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