Jack Della Maddalena Excels in Fight of the Year at UFC 315 as Islam Makhachev Looms

Jack Della Maddalena completely changed his career in the main event of UFC 315 — and it's possible the best is yet to come.

The Australian challenged Belal Muhammad for the UFC Welterweight title — the title once held by French-Canadian legend Georges St-Pierre — in the main event at a raucous Bell Centre in Montreal.

The result was a thrilling five-round slug fest that sees Maddalena as the new champion with a huge challenge on the horizon.

There were plenty of people rooting for Della Maddalena heading into the fight, particularly in his home country of Australia, which has already produced a pair of iconic UFC champs in Robert Whittaker and Alexander Volkanovski. However, Della Maddalena entered the Octagon as a noteworthy underdog, with the confidence of only his most ardent fans and his inner circle.

It's easy to understand why that was the case. Della Maddalena had long ago proven himself as an excellent boxer with potent knockout power, but he had also shown some vulnerabilities in the wrestling department, and the champion Muhammad was as suffocating a wrestler as you'll find in MMA.

Della Maddalena evidently missed that memo.

After five rounds in Montreal, the Aussie had quite clearly done enough to win a unanimous decision — and the coveted welterweight title.

"[It feels] exactly how I thought it would feel," he said in his post-fight interview with commentator Daniel Cormier. "It feels f--king good. 

It was an excellent performance from Della Maddalena, but what made it truly impressive was how it went down. From the opening minutes of the fight, it was clear that Maddalena was far better prepared for Muhammad's unique stylistic challenge than most people expected. He quickly began to deny the champion's takedown attempts, and in the offing, peppered his foe with hard punches in return.

That trend more or less continued for the duration of the fight, until both champion and challenger were covered in blood. However, it was not a blowout. While there is no questioning Della Maddalena's decision victory, there is also no question that Muhammad showed championship heart throughout the fight, standing firm and firing back at his Aussie challenger when it became clear the takedowns weren't materializing. This strategy performed surprisingly well for Muhammad, and he was able to keep himself in the fight through sheer doggedness.

By the time it was over, we had been treated to one of the most dramatic fights of the year so far — not just because so few people expected Della Maddalena to win, but because just as few people expected Muhammad to stand toe-to-toe with the Aussie in a five-round fire fight.

Another fascinating detail of the fight is that many fans questioned whether Della Maddalena deserved his title shot. There is a huge queue of deserving title contenders in the welterweight division right now, and while the Australian was certainly in the conversation, he only got the opportunity because the likes of Shavkat Rakhmonov, Sean Brady, and Joaquin Buckley weren't available for the Montreal card.

In victory, Della Maddalena proved that, whether he was the most deserving challenger in the welterweight division or not, he was absolutely up to the challenge. The way fans talk about him will change completely as a consequence, and he is now in a position to take his stardom to even greater heights.

Ahead of UFC 315, there was endless chatter about Islam Makhachev, the UFC's lightweight champion and top pound-for-pound fighter, even though he wasn't on the bill. Fans have been waiting to see who the Russian star will fight next for months, and as the Montreal card drew closer, it quickly became clear he was waiting to see who won the main event before deciding his next move.

Makhachev has been gunning for the welterweight title for ages, but made it clear that he would not challenge his friend and training partner, Muhammad, for the belt. Not that Della Maddalena has won the title, the way is clear for Makhachev to move up a division and challenge for a second title.

As good as Della Maddalena looked against Muhammad, there is no question he'll be a gargantuan underdog if he's booked to fight Makhachev. The Russian is one of the most suffocating and technical grapplers in MMA history — even better, perhaps, than his mentor and predecessor Khabib Nurmagomedov. He's not a one-trick pony either. He backs up his grappling with a potent and nearly unerring striking technique.

The truth of the matter is that if Makhachev is Della Maddalena's first challenger, he will most likely win, even if he's slightly undersized. He is just that good.

For the moment, however, it doesn't matter.

We mentioned Georges St-Pierre — the dynastic champion affectionately known as "GSP" — above. He is the greatest welterweight in MMA history, and Montreal is home. Somehow, it's fitting that another three-initialled fighter claimed the welterweight belt in an instant classic in the Canadian legend's hometown — even if he happened to come from the other side of the planet.

Time will tell how long "JDM" holds onto the belt, but for now, like GSP before him, he's the true king of the welterweights.