Champion Belal Muhammad and Jack Della Maddalena square off this weekend in the UFC 315 main event that will determine the direction of the Welterweight and Lightweight divisions.
A change at the top of the 170lb division would almost certainly see Islam Makhachev move up, while if Muhammad retains his belt the 155lb king would likely stay in his current weight class and face Ilia Topuria in a mega fight that could still take place at next month’s International Fight Week.
Here are some of the best bets from the card in Montreal.
UFC 315 Tips
Belal Muhammad to win by Decision @1/1 Manon Fiorot to win @ 4/6 Charles Radtke to win @13/8GET £20 IN FREE BETS WITH TALKSPORT BET*
Belal here to stay
Belal Muhammad (24-3, 1 NC) makes a delayed first defence of his Welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena (17-2-0).
Muhammad was due to face Shavkat Rakhmonov in December, but that fight was called off due to an infection suffered by the champion.
The 36-year-old put on a five-round clinic to win the belt when completely dominating Leon Edwards last July at UFC 304 in Manchester.
It had been a long road to the top for the Chicago native with his title-winning performance a 10th straight victory inside the UFC Octagon, which included notable wins over Gilbert Burns (UD), Sean Brady (R2, TKO), Vicente Luque (UD), Stephen Thompson (UD) and Demian Maia (UD).
In contrast Della Maddalena has had a much quicker rise, getting this title opportunity only seven fights deep into what is so far an unblemished UFC record.
The 28-year-old had not been seen since March last year, when stopping former title challenger Gilbert Burns in the third round at UFC 299.
Four first-round finishes kicked off the Australian’s UFC career, including a submission of Randy Brown and a knockout of Danny Roberts, while he also has split decision wins over Kevin Holland and Bassil Hafez.
Della Maddalena has fantastic boxing but faces a tough test to keep this one standing against the heavy pressure grappling game of Muhammad.
The champion has not lost a fight in six years as his unmatched cardio, strong wrestling skills and ever-improving striking has proved to be a tough puzzle to solve.
Muhammad has seen 14 of his 18 completed UFC fights go the distance though, and this looks like another one that will likely be decided by the judges.
Fiorot to fire the bullet?
Valentina Shevchenko (24-4-1) looks to continue to add to her legacy as one of the greatest ever female fighters but she faces a tough task against the dangerous Manon Fiorot (12-1-0)
Shevchenko makes the first defence of what is her second run as Flyweight champion after winning back her belt following a trilogy with Alexa Grasso.
The now 37-year-old made seven defences between 2018 and 2022 after first winning the title from Joanna Jędrzejczyk.
Like Della Maddalena in the main event, Fiorot lands her title chance after a seven-fight winning run in the UFC.
Kicking off with two TKO wins, it’s now been five straight decision victories for the French fighter, including impressive wins over names such as Erin Blanchfield and Rose Namajunas.
The 35-year-old brings an easy-on-the-eye, high-volume striking style and while Shevcheko is also an exquisite striker, she has chosen to lean more on her grappling in recent times.
The Kyrgyzstan fighter took Grasso down eight times in their final encounter at the Sphere in September, gaining a control time of over 16 minutes in the 25-minute contest.
That trilogy, which included a win, draw and defeat, undoubtedly took a lot out of Shevchenko, who will likely look to once again use her grappling here.
However, Fiorot has so far shown strong takedown defence, hitting the ground only once in 16 attempts across her UFC career.
With fewer miles on the clock, Fiorot’s striking could just be a touch ahead of the champion and she is fancied to get the victory.
Radtke to ruin Canadian hopes
It’s USA vs Canada as Mike Malot (11-2-1) and Charles Radtke (10-4-0) bring one of the more interesting rivalries to this card.
Malot was a surging Canadian hope before gassing out on home soil in Toronto at UFC 297 last January, suffering a third-round TKO loss to veteran Neil Magny.
The 33-year-old has since bounced back with a unanimous decision win over Trevin Giles in November, which leaves his UFC record at 4-1.
Malot has two submission wins over Adam Fugitt (R2) and Yohan Lainesse (R1) and one TKO victory against Mickey Gall (R1) during his time inside the Octagon.
Radtke is 3-1 in the UFC and was last seen knocking out Matthew Semelsberger in the first round of their contest in November, while he has also beaten Gilbert Urbina (R1, TKO) and Mike Mathetha (UD).
The 34-year-old’s only defeat inside the Octagon was to Carlos Prates, who finished the American with a perfectly executed knee to the liver at the end of a competitive first round.
Radtke has an old school style with a powerful left hook and hails from a camp full of confidence training alongside Belal Muhammad, Ignacio Bahamondes and Yair Rodriguez.
Having already created one viral moment when winning on his debut in enemy territory in Australia at UFC 293, Radtke is fancied to do so again here.
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