Robert Whittaker doesn’t know if Belal Muhammad had the best game plan this weekend.
On Saturday, Muhammad lost his welterweight title to Jack Della Maddalena, dropping a unanimous decision to the Aussie in the main event of UFC 315. It was an exceptional performance from “JDM,” who stifled most of Muhammad’s takedowns and picked him apart with power shots on the feet. It also made Della Maddalena the third Australian champion in UFC history behind Whittaker and Alexander Volkanovski, something Whittaker was quite happy about.
“Another Australian champion!” Whittaker said on his YouTube channel. “How good does it feel to be an Aussie right now? He just stuck to his guns. He did everything so well. I can’t be happier. I’m proud as punch right now.”
But for as happy as Whittaker is with the result, the former UFC middleweight champion can’t help but wonder if Muhammad gave the best account of himself on Saturday. In the pre-fight buildup, Muhammad claimed he would not shoot once on Della Maddalena, instead vowing to showcase his “Canelo hands,” and while he did shoot nine takedown attempts, it was still not the same focused grappling attack that has become the hallmark of Muhammad’s style.
“I expected more takedowns,” Whittaker said. “Now, it’s easy for me to say on the outside. We can look in and say — I don’t know how he was feeling or what happened to him during the fight. I don’t know how he felt. From the outside, in the third or fourth round, when he mixed in his striking and his shots, when he mixed in the striking to bring Jack onto his shots, they were clean every time. I think his only two takedowns were from the open mat, drawing Jack in sort of thing.
“Why didn’t we see more of that? I can’t help but feel like Belal was trying to make a point striking with Jack for the first three rounds. And if that’s the case, that is ridiculous. Jack is amazing at that midrange boxing. …
“In my opinion, what brought Belal to the title and made him champion was the fact that he could punch-punch-punch, shoot, punch-punch-punch. He’s not Gilbert Burns on the ground. He’s not a guy that when he gets you on your back he’s going to start working tricky submissions and you’re in a very dangerous spot. He is that game, punch-punch, shoot, punch-punch, shoot. And we didn’t see that.”
Of course, Whittaker also allows that it may have been more about Della Maddalena not allowing Muhammad to fight his style of fight.
“Now I can also look at it that Jack did such a good job dissuading Belal from the takedowns, as well as keeping that distance,” Whittaker said. “… I think for the first three rounds, while the guys were still relatively fresh, he was controlling center ring so well. So well. He wasn’t letting Belal push him up against the fence. So was that because Jack did his job so well, or was it because Belal wanted to strike with him, wanted to test his mettle. Which I respect in some rock-and-stick way, but it’s an uphill fight.”
After the win, Della Maddalena said he is open to a superfight with lightweight champion Islam Makhachev next, something that UFC CEO Dana White hinted could happen before the fight. And if that’s the case, Whittaker thinks “JDM” might not have as easy of a time as he did on Saturday.
“I’m curious. I’m very curious,” Whittaker said. “I think Islam Makhachev does everything Belal does, but better. To a much higher degree. He does everything much better. That’s, I guess, the million dollar question. Though, Volk landed shots on Makhachev. If Volk can land shots on Makhachev and hurt Makhachev, Jack certainly can as well, especially because he likes fighting from a close range. That also leaves him more susceptible to takedowns. Makhachev’s takedown game is much higher than Belal’s. Not only that, but his ability to utilize those positions Jack found himself in in this fight, he can utilize those better than Belal.
“What does that mean? I don’t know. [Laughs].”
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