The UFC recently announced a fighter swap as Jack Della Maddalena replaces Shavkat Rakhmonov to face Belal Muhammad for the welterweight championship title at UFC 315.
Maddalena was initially slated to headline the UFC show in March against Leon Edwards, but the fighter was pulled out on short notice to face UFC welterweight champ Belal Muhammad. Rakhmonov– who was initially set to face Muhammad– pulled out of the fight due to an injury that will keep him out of the cage till May, but the fighter promises to return and battle the final winner of UFC 315. This is the second time the bout has had to be rescheduled, the first being due to a bone infection by Muhammad. Despite the change, Rakhmonov’s is optimistic about his return and released a post on X.
“Big thanks to the UFC for offering me the shot at the belt first. Unfortunately, due to injury, I won’t be ready for May. I’ll be facing the winner later this year!”
The new development gives Maddalena a shot at the UFC gold and continues his undefeated streak. Replacing him in London is Sean Brady, who will now take on Edwards.
Co-headlining the UFC 315 event is the flyweight title bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Manon Fiorot.
Ilia Topuria vacates featherweight title and moves to the lightweight division
UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria’s reign as champion ends abruptly as the fighter vacates his title.
The announcement came on a Wednesday night as UFC CEO Dana White revealed the fighter would no longer be fighting the featherweight. Topuria revealed that he believes he has cemented his legacy in that division, and his body can no longer come with maintaining the division limit.
Due to the new opening, a new champion will be crowned at UFC 314, and battling for this title will be former champion Alexander Volkanovski and Diego Lopes.
As for Topuria, the fighter will be moving to the lightweight, where he plans on getting a shot at champ Islam Makhachev. The fighter had a good but short run as the featherweight champion. He successfully defeated Alexander Volkanovski to claim and defend the title against BMF titleholder Max Holloway. Also on the fight card is former Bellator champion Patricio Pitbull’s debut in the UFC. Pitbull will be facing featherweight champion Yair Rodriguez at UFC 314.
