Belal Muhammad & Bo Nickal’s Mistakes Revealed as UFC Veteran Gains Newfound Respect

UFC 315 was an epic disappointment for Belal Muhammad and his fans. The American welterweight star failed to successfully defend the 170-pound title against Jack Della Maddalena and lost the bout via a unanimous decision. Well, ‘Remember The Name’ was already under quite a bit of scrutiny before stepping in to defend the title. Even the UFC’s security didn’t realize that he was a champion back when Shavkat Rakhmanov defeated Ian Garry at UFC 310, and Joe Rogan had to ask the security to let Muhammad pass and face off against ‘Nomad.’ But this time around, the Chicago resident’s downfall came from one of his promises. 

‘Remember The Name’ wanted the world to witness that he could dominate the Octagon without relying too much on his wrestling prowess. While he prepared to take on Della Maddalena, Muhammad declared that he had learned how to box like Canelo Alvarez and would use that against JDM. You see, the Australian welterweight won 12 fights via KO/TKO, and just 4 via decision. This meant that Della Maddalena had a better chance of winning if the fight continued on the feet for the major part of the 5 rounds. 

Previously at UFC Des Moines, Bo Nickal, despite being a former NCAA wrestling champion, didn’t rely enough on his wrestling skills. And as expected, his opponent, Reinier de Ridder, managed to knock Nickal out cold within the second round. Although the mistakes that Muhammad and Nickal made were pretty similar, they had different intentions behind them. And that’s what Derek Brunson weighed in on, after witnessing the war between Muhammad and JDM. 

Taking to X, ‘The One’ revealed that he felt bad for Muhammad. He wrote, “He wanted to prove he could win without wrestling . There’s a difference between half shooting to keep your opponent respecting your TDs and actually wrestling / chaining attacks together. Where as Bo Nickal elected not to wrestle because he was concerned about his opponent’s ground skills. Moral of the story WRESTLE BABY WRESTLE . Take down , ground and pound until the ref stops it #MakeGroundAndPoundGreatAgain.”

However, Brunson felt nothing but respect for the former welterweight champion despite his loss. He wrote, “I don’t think he jeopardizes his title just to prove a point. I think his team recognized that JDM had a good chance to defend Bilal’s wrestling (which proved to be true) so they chose to mix it in rather than rely on it. It was a close fight, but Bilal got outclassed. I gained some respect for Bilal hanging in a disadvantage style of fight for him.” 

I don’t think he jeopardizes his title just to prove a point. I think his team recognized that JDM had a good chance to defend Bilal’s wrestling (which proved to be true) so they chose to mix it in rather than rely on it. It was a close fight, but Bilal got outclassed. I gained…

— Drewtamu (@Drewtamu) May 11, 2025

Needless to say, the majority of the MMA world began goofing around about Muhammad following his defeat. But Brunson wasn’t the only one who found respect for the former welterweight champion. Although he couldn’t prove his striking prowess, he did manage to entertain the fighting realm with one of the most entertaining fights in the division. Nevertheless, he did make one mistake. Let’s see what Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team had to say about Muhammad’s defeat. 

AKA coach reveals what went wrong for Belal Muhammad against Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 315

It’s a pretty well-known fact that ‘Remember The Name’ is very close to the Dagetani team. Muhammad has trained with Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev on quite a few occasions. And that certainly pushed his wrestling skills to great heights. But what did Javier Mendez, the Dagestani team’s coach at the AKA gym, have to say about it? During a conversation with The Submission Radio right after UFC 315, Mendez said, “If you don’t let a person get in his rhythm, it’s really hard to get him out of that rhythm once you let him in it. And uh I think he let Jack get in his rhythm way too farnd it was just too late.”

And the problem with that came when Muhammad was left behind in the striking game. It’s worth noting that ‘Bulby’ has a habit of going through all rounds and winning via decision. This meant that he had to outstrike or outwrestle his opponents. And by missing out on wrestling, he was put at a pretty huge disadvantage. Mendez continued, “And the problem I feel from watching it is Belal was being successful with the standup himself. So, it wasn’t like he wasn’t landing any shots. He was landing good shots himself. But he was just a little bit behind, on the standing exchanges.”

UFC 315 was indeed a reminder for Muhammad to stay focused on his wrestling and use all of his weapons in a fight. Support kept on coming for ‘Remember The Name’ even though he lost. And that is arguably going to motivate him to fight even harder in his next big fight. But for now, the MMA fans need Makhachev to avenge Muhammad and fight JDM. 

According to you, what was the real reason behind Belal Muhammad’s defeat at UFC 315? Do you think he should have begun with his takedowns and done some damage with ground and pounds? Let us know what you think of the fight in the comments down below. 

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