Welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has boldly claimed that he won’t even attempt to take Jack Della Maddalena down at UFC 315 as he wants to beat him in the striking battle instead.
”I’m going to go in there, I’m going to outbox Jack,” Muhammad said on ‘The Coach And The Casual’ podcast. “I’m not going to shoot one takedown, and I’m going to show him the meaning of Canelo hands. I’m going to show the UFC fighters, the fans, that I’m the best boxer in the UFC, the best boxer in the welterweight division.”
It’s a surprising strategy given that Muhammad acknowledges that he believes he has a clear advantage in the wrestling department, but he doesn’t underestimate what Maddalena could offer on the mat too.
“I think I can take him down, but for me, I don’t like to underestimate guys,” Muhammad said. “He’s had fights where guys took him down, but he keeps going. Even that last fight with Gilbert Burns, I thought he was losing up until that last 30 seconds, so it tells me he has heart. He’s never going to quit or give up on himself even if he gets taken down.
“I’ve got to be ready to go a hard pace and be ready for him to match it. I think he gets a lot of guys because he pressures them, but the difference is, when you’re going against another pressure fighter that gives more pressure than you, then you’re going to have to back up. Then you can’t really box going backwards.”
If Muhammad is genuinely not going to utilize his wrestling at all in this fight then it seems like flawed game-planning, as at the very least the threat of takedowns can open up more opportunities on the feet in what’s likely to be a competitive striking battle.
That being said, Muhammad may well just be playing mind games with Maddalena, who will no doubt still be continuing to work hard on his takedown defense and mat work leading into the fight in Montreal, Canada on May 10th.
