Storylines: UFC 315 ‘Muhammad vs. Della Maddalena’

Jack Della Maddalena at first glance may not look like an obvious choice as a No. 1 contender, but a years-long run of uninterrupted success paired with a crowd-pleasing style made him impossible for matchmakers to ignore.

The 28-year-old Australian will challenge Belal Muhammad for the undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight crown when they do battle in the UFC 315 headliner on Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Della Maddalena enters the Octagon on a remarkable 17-fight winning streak. He last appeared at UFC 299, where he cut down Gilbert Burns with a third-round knee strike and follow-up elbows a little more than a year ago. Della Maddalena has secured 14 of his 17 professional victories by knockout, technical knockout or submission, giving him a robust 82% finish rate. Muhammad, meanwhile, has spent much of his career swimming upstream and proving detractors wrong. He returns the stage for the first time since he captured the welterweight title with a five-round unanimous decision over Leon Edwards at UFC 304 on July 27. Muhammad, 36, has not tasted defeat in more than 2,300 days, as he has compiled a 10-0 record with one no contest across his past 11 outings.

The Muhammad-Della Maddalena showdown and its resulting fallout for the 170-pound weight class is but one storyline to monitor at UFC 314. Here are three more:

Top of the Ladder

All roads led Manon Fiorot to this point. “The Beast” will take on Valentina Shevchenko for the undisputed UFC women’s flyweight championship in the five-round co-main event. Fiorot, 35, has rattled off 12 straight wins, the last five of them inside the Octagon, and established herself as a grave threat to the 125-pound elite. She last suited up at UFC on ESPN 54, where she landed a personal best 172 significant strikes in a unanimous decision over Erin Blanchfield on March 30, 2024. Fiorot has held titles previously in the UAE Warriors and Extreme Fighting Championship organizations. On the other side of the equation, Shevchenko needs no introduction as one of the most accomplished female fighters in mixed martial arts history. The 37-year-old Tiger Muay Thai rep completed her trilogy with Alexa Grasso and reclaimed the flyweight throne for a second time with a five-round unanimous decision at UFC 306 on Sept. 14. The win moved Shevchenko to 13-3-1 in the UFC. Will Fiorot force an all-time great to pass the torch?

One of a Kind

Jose Aldo makes news every time he competes at this late stage of his hall-of-fame career. The 38-year-old Nova Uniao cornerstone attempts to get back in the win column when he confronts Aiemann Zahabi in a three-round bantamweight showcase. Aldo finds himself on the rebound following a contentious split decision defeat to divisional upstart Mario Bautista at UFC 307 on Oct. 5. He outlanded Bautista by a narrow 51-49 margin in significant strikes and turned away all 10 of the MMA Lab standout’s takedown attempts. Victories over Urijah Faber, Chad Mendes (twice), Frankie Edgar (twice), Marlon Vera and Rob Font anchor the stellar Aldo resume. Zahabi, meanwhile, nets the big-fish opportunity he has long sought. The Tristar Gym mainstay steps into the spotlight with the wind of a five-fight winning streak in his sails. Zahabi, 37, last strapped on the gloves on Nov. 2, when he laid claim to a three-round unanimous decision over former Resurrection Fighting Alliance champion Pedro Munhoz at UFC Fight Night 246. Can Aldo hold off Father Time yet again?

Closing Time

Natalia Silva needed a little more than two years to grow from a high-ceiling prospect into a potential title contender. She can complete her transformation when she toes the line against the aforementioned Grasso in a three-round women’s flyweight attraction that could determine the next challenger for the 125-pound crown. Silva, 28, has strung together 12 consecutive victories—a run that includes a 6-0 mark in the UFC. The onetime Jungle Fight champion last saw action in September, when she connected with 117 significant strikes in a three-round unanimous decision over Jessica Andrade at UFC Fight Night 242. Silva boast 12 finishes among her 18 pro victories, with nine of them having taken place inside one round. In Grasso, she faces her most difficult test to date. The 31-year-old Lobo Gym star held sway as women’s flyweight champion for 561 days, from March 4, 2023 to Sept. 14, 2024. Grasso owns wins over Shevchenko, Viviane Araujo, Joanne Wood, Maycee Barber and Karolina Kowalkiewicz. Is this where Silva proves she has the goods necessary to compete with the best of the best?