Ian Machado Garry thinks Jack Della Maddalena deserves more credit for shutting down Belal Muhammad’s offense at UFC 315.
‘JDM’ scored the biggest win of his career in Montreal, defeating Muhammad to capture the welterweight world title via a fairly dominant unanimous decision victory. Following the fight, fans were quick to commend Muhammad for opting to stand and trade with Della Maddalena, making for a fairly exciting scrap.
Of course, some believe abandoning his grapple-heavy game plan is what ultimately spelled disaster for ‘Remember The Name.’
Garry was quick to dispute those claims, believing that ‘JDM’ deserves credit for stifling Muhammad’s offense and forcing him to play the Aussies’ game. However, Garry didn’t stop there. ‘The Future’ also admonished Muhammad for trying to outbox a boxer and letting his ego get the best of him.
“There was a lot of talk afterwards. ‘Oh, Belal didn’t shoot enough.’ I think not giving Jack enough credit for how he fought,” Garry said during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. “You have to give Jack credit for footwork, head movement, controlling the distance, making it awkward for Belal to enter. But at some point, you have to realize you need to do something different. You need to change it up, because you’re not going to outbox a boxer. I don’t know if Belal just got his ego in the wrong direction, but inevitably, he’s now not the champion because of that.
“As a champion, you have to be able to change that up, mix it up, push and drive, and not kind of accept being in your opponent’s world. You have to make it happen.”
We know Della Maddalena’s next move, but it’s not so clear for Belal Muhammad
Next up for Jack Della Maddalena will be a clash with Islam Makhachev, who recently vacated his lightweight title in a bid to move up and challenge the newly minted welterweight titleholder.
As for Belal Muhammad, a rematch with No. 2 ranked contender Sean Brady or a long-awaited scrap with the unbeaten Shavkat Rakhmonov could be in order. Perhaps a trilogy fight with Leon Edwards. There are plenty of options, any one of them getting Muhammad right back into the title picture.
