Belal Muhammad left his welterweight title in the hands of someone else at UFC 315 on Saturday.
He also left a piece of his lip somewhere in the cage, too, it seems.
UFC CEO Dana White posted an image on social media of Muhammad (24-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) after his unanimous decision loss to Jack Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) in the main event at Bell Centre in Montreal. Muhammad’s upper lip is shown sliced deep and clean, and White’s post said the “warrior” also had a broken orbital and broken nose.
Muhammad was a 2-1 betting favorite in the fight, which was his first attempted title defense after he won the belt against Leon Edwards in 2024. He was set to defend the title against Shavkat Rakhmonov this past December, but a bone infection took him out.
Della Maddalena won with a 49-46 scorecard and a pair of 48-47s for a unanimous decision. The bout also won Fight of the Night honors – Muhammad’s first such bonus since his UFC debut. But it came at the expense of his title.
While UFC 315 medical suspensions have not yet been publicly released, Muhammad’s is likely to be lengthy.
