Who’s Next?🔮
My job as the matchmaker has been incredibly simple this week…
It’s always the sleeper cards, huh?
“Holy sh*t” would be the perfect duo of words to explain UFC 315, and as I sat here last week underplaying the UFC schedule, 315 certainly proved me wrong and completely delivered in terms of entertainment.
There’s so much to discuss from Jack Della Maddalena winning the welterweight championship from Belal Muhammad in an absolute slugfest, to Valentina Shevchenko’s tenth title fight win, and Jose Aldo’s second retirement (maybe).
However, as Canada’s time in the PPV spotlight sits in the rearview, I’m looking at what’s next for the fighters who delivered standout performances. As The Matchmaker, here’s my list of the most crucial matchups I believe Dana White and Hunter Campbell should craft next…
The belt looks good on him! 🫡
[ #UFC315 | Jack Della Maddalena ] pic.twitter.com/SGzAqagzu9— UFC (@ufc) May 11, 2025
Jack Della Maddalena vs…
Islam Makhachev, duh!
It’s already written in the stars, apparently. And instead of sending commiserations to his “friend,” the lightweight champ and pound-for-pound No.1 instantly took to social media and called out Jack Della Maddalena following his title win over Belal Muhammad.
I’m not one to gloat, but I told you this “friendship” was questionable.
Anyway, with JDM now holding welterweight gold and Makhachev making it apparent in UFC news that 170lb gold and a second title in a second division was his goal, I don’t believe we have to contemplate the newly crowned champ’s first defense.
📊🏆 Jack Della Maddalena outstruck Belal Muhammad in every round, and Belal had a lot of success on the feet at the same time.
Stats from the UFC. pic.twitter.com/URGFEQ1PcH
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 11, 2025
It’s a damn shame that we might not get Makhachev vs. Topuria, but you never know. Makhachev could certainly fight both men, especially since he’s proclaimed that he won’t be vacating the 155lb strap when challenging up a division!
Makhachev vs. Topuria, followed by Della Maddalena vs. Makhachev, are the UFC fights we need in 2025!
🤯 📊 Islam Makhachev finished all of his last 8 opponents in the UFC.
Will Jack Della Maddalena end Islam’s crazy run? pic.twitter.com/BkkdemesU8
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) May 12, 2025
Belal Muhammad vs…
Belal Muhammad has received a lot of hate for “boring fights” throughout his pro career, but after the recent Leon Edwards scrap and Saturday’s UFC 315 main event, I believe it’s time to halt the hate.
He went out on his shield, and that’s all we can ask from a fighter. He stood and traded with JDM, failed a few takedowns, but didn’t just spam the shots to make it a complete bore-fest. Respect.
Dana White said that Belal Muhammad left with a split lip, broken nose, and orbital after his fight at #UFC315 😳
He stood and traded with one of the best boxers in the UFC and gave us a special performance 🔥
One of the best fights of 2025 👏 pic.twitter.com/vZ9eWzbe44
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) May 11, 2025
Unfortunately, he lost, and now, gaining a rematch for the strap will prove difficult. But guess what, the Kamaru Usman fight is waiting, per UFC rumors!
We know that Belal and Usman have had a lot of choice words for each other lately, and no matter the result of Usman’s upcoming clash with Joaquim Buckley, the UFC has the perfect pre-marketed beef by putting this combined animosity inside the cage with each other.
There’s no better next fight for Belal Muhammad than Kamaru Usman.
That’s what @MikeBohn argues after #UFC315: Agree? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/JXSrjdowzB
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) May 11, 2025
Valentina Shevchenko vs…
My job as the matchmaker has been incredibly simple this week, as the fights and their results keep making future bouts themselves.
With Valentina Shevchenko winning another, yes, another flyweight title fight, her former foe, Alexa Grasso, just lost to the freshest contender in the division, Brazil’s Natalia Silva.
Valentina Shevchenko’s resume is INSANE! 🤯#UFC315 | LIVE on TNT Sports & discovery+ pic.twitter.com/fvfOhPwbUM
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) May 11, 2025
With six consecutive wins inside the octagon since her debut in 2022, including wins over two former champions, Silva, without question, is the next in line to attempt to dodge the accuracy of The Bullet.
Both ladies put on a great display at UFC 315, but Silva, in particular, dominated Grasso with slick footwork, beautiful octagon awareness, and a striking offensive that’ll make you say “wow.”
This matchup is almost a given, and I’d guess that Dana will want to book this fight as a main event in September or October.
Natália Silva Posts a Statement Following Her #UFC315 Victory
“It’s Great when you work hard for something and it works”
“I didn’t even put on a filter to show my face after the fight”
📸: Silva IG Story pic.twitter.com/IsGSsSKKWe
— Kevin (@realkevink) May 12, 2025
Jose Aldo vs…
I’ll stand on business and proclaim that Jose Aldo won rounds one and two at UFC 315, and although Aiemann Zahabi was awarded the decision, it simply feels like another dirty move by the UFC towards one of their greatest ever to do it!
The opponents Aldo has been matched up with lately have been disgusting. There have been multiple opportunities to book him against fellow legends, but instead, they’ve opted for Jonathan Martinez, Mario Bautista, and in Canada this past weekend, Zahabi.
It’s whatever, but now, Aldo’s back-to-back losses versus no-names have made him contemplate retirement. It isn’t official, but ‘The King of Rio’ stated in the octagon and on social media that he’s unsure if he can continue in the sport.
We’re talking about the same man who gave Merab Dvalishvili, the current champ, one of his toughest tests to date, and the guy who is arguably the greatest featherweight champion in UFC history.
Should Aldo change his mind, he deserves a proper send-off! A battle between two legends, who are equally deserving of stepping into the octagon with one another. Book Aldo versus Henry Cejudo!!
In the meantime, we’ll pray that he doesn’t leave the sport on such a downer!
This may have been my last time inside the Octagon.
This week, I faced one of the biggest battles of my life, and it wasn’t against an opponent, but within myself.Over the past few years, I rekindled the dream of becoming a champion once again. I trained as I always did, gave… pic.twitter.com/Cv9FVWsLt7
— Jose Aldo Junior (@josealdojunior) May 11, 2025
Benoit Saint-Denis vs…
As the biggest odds betting favorite at UFC 315, nobody was surprised when Benoit Saint-Denis beat the piss out of Kyle Prepolec, a short notice replacement opponent, for 7 minutes and 35 seconds.
However, the fight was pure entertainment while it lasted, from BSD’s displaying his grappling skills in the first round to him slugging it out, punch for punch, with Prepolec in the second.
After coming close to securing the knockout on a few occasions, Saint-Denis, everyone’s favorite soldier turned fighter, locked up an arm triangle choke, and the rest was history.
Change of opponent was no problem 👏@BenoitSt_Denis still has a 100% finish rate in the UFC 😮💨
[ #UFC315 LIVE NOW on @ESPNPlus PPV ] pic.twitter.com/qXv0NTgUkw— UFC (@ufc) May 11, 2025
While ‘The God of War’ won’t witness a rankings move from defeating an unranked opponent, he’s back in the win column, and sits inside the top-15 rankings with a lot of intriguing names surrounding him.
BSD received a lot of hate after the Poirier and ‘Money’ Moicano losses, but when you contemplate that BSD has been fighting for just six years professionally, you have to put some respect on his name. However, due to his previous push, I think we should put the brakes on; he’s only 29 years old, after all.
Therefore, rebooking the originally scheduled Joel Alvarez fight makes sense to me. Give this guy BSD another 2-3 years; he might very well be a serious top-five contender!
