Belal Muhammad believes he beat Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315: “I won that fight”

Belal Muhammad believes he did more than enough to beat Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315.

Muhammad was looking to defend his welterweight title for the first time, but dropped a decision to Della Maddalena. The Aussie was able to land the more damaging shots to get the win. However, after watching it back multiple times, Muhammad feels like he did enough to get the win.

“The ‘JDM’ fight, it was close. To me, I thought I still won that fight,” Muhammad said to Home of Fight. “I could go back and re-watch it a million times and no matter what it was, I still see myself winning. It levels you up, every camp you have levels you up, that fight is going to level me up. At the end, of the day, the goal is to be the best fighter to ever do it, a complete fighter to ever do it. So, the next time you see me in the cage, you will be surprised from what I gained from that one.”

It’s an interesting take from Belal Muhammad, as many fans and analysts felt like Jack Della Maddalena deserved the win. The judges ended up scoring the fight 49-46, 48-47, and 48-47 in favor of Della Maddalena, but Muhammad thinks it was a close fight and he could have won.

Belal Muhammad claims Kamaru Usman is avoiding him

Although Belal Muhammad felt like he beat Jack Della Maddalena, the judges didn’t agree.

So, Muhammad is looking to get back on track and has called out Kamaru Usman. However, the former champ claims Usman is avoiding him.

“I think fighting Kamaru Usman (is what should happen),” Muhammad said to MMAJunkie. “He has to go through me. I’m still the No. 1-ranked guy. It was a war. It was Fight of the Night. If JDM is still the champion, who wouldn’t see that fight again? For me, all these guys (have) got to look to fight me…

“He’s trying to avoid me,” Muhammad added. “He knows I’m still the hardest guy in the division when you’re looking at stylistic matchups. I still think I’m the best in the division, no matter what.”

Belal Muhammad is currently ranked No. 1 at welterweight. He’s 24-4 and one NC and had his 11-fight unbeaten streak snapped by Della Maddalena.