Veteran UFC fighter Gilbert Burns, who has faced both men in the octagon, was not surprised by Belal Muhammad`s defeat at the hands of Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title at UFC 315.
Muhammad`s reign as champion came to an end in his very first defense against the Australian striker in Canada. While many observers anticipated Muhammad would utilize his strong grappling base to secure the win, Della Maddalena ultimately prevailed to claim the belt.
Speaking at a media day in anticipation of his own upcoming bout, Burns offered insight into his prediction for the title fight.
Having gone five tough rounds with Della Maddalena himself at UFC 299, a fight where Burns successfully controlled large portions of the grappling exchanges, `Durinho` initially leaned towards Muhammad retaining his championship.
However, his perspective shifted after evaluating the training camps. Burns specifically noted Della Maddalena`s preparation with elite grapplers like Alexander Volkanovski and Craig Jones, recognizing that the Aussie`s already solid takedown defense and scrambling abilities had likely seen further improvement. “When I see he was training with Volk, I saw he already had great scrambles when we fought, good get-ups, good takedown defense,” Burns stated. “And he was even more close with Craig Jones and with Volk. I said, ‘Man, that guy is going to win.’”
Burns then turned his attention to Muhammad`s preparation. He looked to see if Muhammad was undertaking extensive training with the renowned Khabib Nurmagomedov in Dagestan, a partnership that had previously coincided with Muhammad`s most significant victories.
“Then I was seeing if Belal Muhammad was going to train with Khabib,” Burns explained. He speculated that the potential title aspirations of Islam Makhachev in a heavier division might have made it impractical for Muhammad to train there for an extended period this time. “But they had that thing of Islam [Makhachev] wants to move up. I assumed that was the case, ‘Okay, I’m not going [to train with them].’”
Observing that Muhammad`s primary training was occurring in Chicago rather than Dagestan, Burns deduced that he might not be receiving the specific, high-intensity grappling preparation that had previously benefited him. “When I saw that he didn’t [go] there and [was] more in Chicago here, I said, ‘Yeah, he’s not two, three years in Dagestan this time, I think Jack’s going to win.’”
Burns admitted, “Before I picked Jack, I picked Belal. But I started looking more [into it].”
The Impact of Khabib Nurmagomedov`s Coaching
Khabib Nurmagomedov`s involvement had undeniably played a significant role in Belal Muhammad`s ascent to championship status.
Training under Khabib`s guidance alongside fighters like Islam and Umar Nurmagomedov in Dagestan prior to facing Sean Brady resulted in what many considered a career-best performance for Muhammad, culminating in a decisive knockout victory.
This successful collaboration continued, contributing to Muhammad`s eventual capture of the welterweight title from Leon Edwards at UFC 304 in Abu Dhabi.
Following the loss at UFC 315, it remains a point of speculation whether Muhammad will seek to rejoin Khabib`s camp to prepare for his next bout and attempt to reclaim the championship.
Gareth Tenby