Following his defeat to Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315, a loss that cost him a potential welterweight title shot, Belal Muhammad has faced significant backlash regarding his approach and strategy in the fight.
In the period leading up to the event, Muhammad had confidently stated his intention to demonstrate his striking abilities, referring to his “Canelo hands,” and prove his boxing could stand up to anyone, including a formidable power puncher like Della Maddalena. Muhammad had typically relied on relentless wrestling and pressure throughout his career ascent, dominating opponents on the ground. Despite attempting nine takedowns during the recent bout, he is now being heavily criticized for his tactical choices against the powerful Australian striker.
UFC veteran Matt Brown strongly disagrees with the assessment that Muhammad`s loss was primarily due to poor game planning, arguing that such a view completely overlooks the effectiveness of Della Maddalena in shutting down Belal.
“It’s almost an irrelevant question because it didn’t matter what his game plan was,” Brown explained during a recent episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Jack had an answer for everything that he did.”
Brown suggested that while Muhammad`s team might review their strategy and look for areas to improve, it`s difficult to imagine a different plan altering the outcome significantly. He added, “When you go back to the drawing board for Belal, you’ve got a lot of drawing to do when you’re looking at a Jack Della Maddalena fight.”
As the fight unfolded mostly on the feet, Della Maddalena’s superior boxing, reach, and power allowed him to control the majority of the significant exchanges. While Muhammad did have his moments, he struggled to land impactful shots, whereas Della Maddalena clearly inflicted more damage with his connections.
Regarding the wrestling aspect, Brown was quick to point out that Muhammad didn`t abandon his takedown attempts; instead, Della Maddalena simply had effective defenses for every move Belal made to take the fight to the mat.
“Jack’s wrestling looked great,” Brown commented. “Even when Belal got him down, he stood right back up, I think every time. I’m not remembering any time Belal held him down for any decent length of time. He used some tricky little things, hip toss type things to create some space. He was really good at staying off the cage.”
Brown recalled the widespread assumption that Muhammad would succeed in holding Della Maddalena against the cage for much of the fight, leading to a perceived “really, really boring” contest. “It didn’t work out that way,” he noted, highlighting how Jack prevented this scenario.
Brown contends that if Muhammad is to be criticized for his performance, the focus should be more on the type of striking he attempted against Della Maddalena rather than the perceived lack of wrestling.
Muhammad appeared heavily focused on his boxing, which Brown felt was a potentially risky strategy against a striker as skilled and powerful as Della Maddalena.
“It seemed that Belal was boxing with him a little bit more than I would have liked,” Brown stated. He would have preferred to see Muhammad incorporate “more teeps or kicks and mix it up a little bit more, do more distance stuff.” He questioned the logic of “just boxing with a boxer,” given Della Maddalena’s known strengths.
Brown concluded, “The only thing I would have liked to see from Belal more was a Muay Thai/kickboxing style. Just boxing with a boxer, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense in my head.”
Ultimately, Brown couldn`t help but consider the possibility that Della Maddalena simply presented a stylistic puzzle that Muhammad was unable to solve, regardless of the tactical approach.
Brown referenced the history of combat sports, where fighters occasionally face opponents who represent a significant stylistic hurdle they cannot overcome. While not stating it as an absolute certainty, Brown believes the evidence from the UFC 315 fight points strongly in this direction for Muhammad against Della Maddalena.
“Belal has a lot learn from on this fight,” Brown acknowledged, suggesting areas for Muhammad to analyze and improve. However, he expressed doubt that such adjustments would “ever be enough to beat Jack the way that fight went the other night,” emphasizing the potential significance of the matchup itself. He highlighted Jack`s contrasting performance: “The fact is Jack had a perfect game plan. He executed extremely well the entire fight.”
Brown concluded with uncertainty about Muhammad’s prospects against Della Maddalena, stating, “I don’t know if there was anything [Belal] could have done to beat Jack. I don’t know if there’s anything he could do to beat Jack in the future.”
Marcus Blakely