Matches to Make After UFC 315

On Saturday, UFC 315 brought fireworks to Montreal’s Bell Centre with a card rich in both violence and divisional stakes. Welterweight and women’s flyweight title bouts topped a relatively lean 12-fight lineup that nonetheless showcased every phase of the life cycle of a professional fighter. From pound-for-pound talents seeking to defend their thrones, to aging legends trying to build on their legacies, to rising contenders and even short-notice replacements trying to make a big splash while playing with house money, UFC 315 delivered much of what we watch MMA for—not to mention a couple of the best rounds of 2025.

As we pick through the rubble in Quebec, here are matchups that ought to be made for the main card winners, as well as one undercard fighter who is intimately tied into the “what’s next” question at 125 pounds.

Jack Della Maddalena vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov

Della Maddalena put on a clinic in the early rounds, repeatedly beating Muhammad to the spot and to the punch, nailing him with sharp counters and practically neutralizing one of the most reliably aggressive grinders in the sport. Completely absent was Muhammad’s constant forward motion and relentless takedown assault, and by the time the champ began to look anything like his usual self in Round 4, it was much too little, too late. To Della Maddalena’s enduring credit, even once Muhammad committed to closing the distance and trying to take him down, his defensive wrestling was more than up to the task. The final two rounds saw “Remember The Name” remember his game, and he showed some of the mettle that made him such a problem on his way to the title, but by the time he secured a takedown and went to work from top position, less than half a round remained. Moments later, Della Maddalena escaped to his feet, cracked Muhammad badly on the feet, and 90 seconds of madness ensued. By the time the final horn sounded, the challenger had proven his will as well as his skill in what will go down as one of the standout performances of the year.

Considering how much of an uphill climb Muhammad had to get to a title shot in the first place, it seems unlikely the UFC will give him an immediate chance to win it back, which means Della Maddalena will see a new face in his first title defense, and there is one obvious choice. I know the UFC has announced that lightweight champ Islam Makhachev is going to be the next challenger, but I still like Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria if you want to champ-versus-champ. I just hate the idea of making a cross-divisional superfight when there is such a deserving contender already at welterweight.

To the extent that it is possible for a 19-0 fighter to be a forgotten man in a divisional title discussion, Rakhmonov is. The “Nomad” was to have been the next man up for Muhammad at UFC 310 back in December—and remember that the cancellation of that bout was down to Muhammad, not Rakhmonov. He then held up his end of things in a short-notice bout against Ian Garry, a win that has aged well. Rakhmonov is still out there, he’s still undefeated, and it’s time for his shot.

Related » UFC 315 Round-by-Round Scoring

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Natalia Silva

In the co-main event, Shevchenko picked up the first defense of her second title reign with a hard-fought decision win over Manon Fiorot. The fight was a story of contrasts and will serve as a great case study in scoring criteria under the Unified Rules and similar rulesets. On one hand, it was certainly possible to score Rounds 2, 3 and 5 for the challenger, they were ultra-narrow, while the first and fourth saw Shevchenko punish Fiorot badly, and there is no question who came closer to finishing the fight. Questions of “Pride scoring” or “look at her face, now look at mine” aside, I’m only in favor of immediate title rematches when there is a glaring judging or officiating controversy—something that actually deserves the “robbery” tag—or an obvious extenuating circumstance like a freakish injury. Shevchenko-Fiorot was razor-close, but it featured neither of those things. Time to move on.

Silva picked up a key win on Saturday’s main card, sweeping all three rounds from former flyweight champ Alexa Grasso in a surprisingly dominant showing that, if anything, stood out for how easy she made it look. Whether Grasso’s inert performance was due to a competitive decline on her part, some other extenuating circumstance or because Silva’s fast-twitch hip feints, steady diet of kicks and excellent distance management simply made her the better fighter is a question that only time will answer, and it’s a little unfair to Silva to dwell on it. What matters is that she has now won 13 straight fights, the last seven in the UFC, the last two against former champs and future hall-of-famers in Grasso and Jessica Andrade. In a division well-stocked with solid contenders but hungry for fresh faces in the title picture, the 28-year-old Brazilian has become the obvious choice.

Aiemann Zahabi vs. Marlon Vera

Zahabi’s unanimous decision win over Jose Aldo was a case of overlapping “yeah, buts.” On one hand, practically nobody thought the native Quebecois deserved the nod. On the other hand, Aldo’s massive seven-pound weight miss forced their fight from bantamweight to featherweight, and it is only Zahabi’s desire to perform for the home fans—and an implied financial sweetener from UFC matchmakers—that let the fight take place at all. In the end, what matters is that the Tristar Gym stalwart goes down as the winner. Objectively, that is true, and subjectively, whatever compromises led to the bout happening were worth it, as the final five minutes will make every “Round of the Year” list in the sport. His win streak now stands at six and just as importantly, the chronically inactive Zahabi has now won twice in a calendar year for the first time in his UFC career. After the fight, Zahabi asked for longtime contender and action merchant Vera. Fittingly, considering the close nature of the win, “Chito” represents a more or less lateral move from Aldo. Realistic callouts are uncommon in the UFC; realistic callouts that sound like a damned fun fight are downright rare. Give the man what he wants.

Benoit St. Denis vs. Joel Alvarez

UFC 315 suffered a serious blow when Alvarez withdrew from their scheduled matchup less than 10 days out from fight night, robbing the card of perhaps its most exciting matchup, and the most important one outside of the two title bouts. St. Denis made the best of a tough situation, meeting replacement opponent Kyle Prepolec in the main card opener as a prohibitive favorite, as high as -1500 on some books. After winning the first round at a deliberate pace, “BSD” turned up the jets in Round 2, thrashing the Canadian on the feet, in the clinch and on the ground before mercifully putting a stop to the mauling with an arm-triangle choke. The result was a performance that reaffirmed what we knew about St. Denis—he is a born finisher with standout offensive skills everywhere, who has some nagging deficiencies—while not teaching us anything new. That being the case, the Alvarez matchup still makes all kinds of sense, and it is still the call.

Jasmine Jasudavicius vs. Rose Namajunas-Miranda Maverick Winner

In the biggest moment of her career to date, Jasudavicius delivered in a big way, absolutely steamrolling Jessica Andrade en route to a first-round submission. In toppling the legendary former champ, the 36-year-old Canadian extended her win streak to five straight since a narrow decision loss to Tracy Cortez 20 months ago. If you believe Jasudavicius should be up next for a shot at the flyweight title rather than Natalia Silva, you won’t get much argument from me, especially given the pragmatic consideration that as the older woman by eight years, she has a shorter window in which to strike gold. In my estimation, Silva’s longer Octagon win streak and slightly higher strength of schedule, especially considering her win over Grasso on Saturday, gets her the nod. Namajunas and Maverick meet in a high-stakes matchup in Atlanta next month; the winner of that matchup would offer either another legendary former champ or fellow red-hot rising contender to test Jasudavicius’ contender mettle and could make her claim to a title shot practically undeniable.