Della Maddalena used volume striking to frustrate the now-former welterweight champion, nearly finishing the fight on several occasions. Della Maddalena (18-2, Mixed Martial Arts) has now won 18 in a row. Muhammad (24-4, 1 No Contest) was making his first title defence and had won 11 consecutive fights.

Della Maddalena credited Muhammad’s toughness but said post-fight that he knew he was not going to let it slip away.

“It felt [expletive] good,” the Australian said with a smile.

He said he was intrigued by UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev’s possible move to welterweight, and was open to exacting revenge on the Russian. His fellow Australian, Alexander Volkanovski, lost both bouts to Makhachev.

It is the first loss for Muhammad, a Chicago native, since January 2019.

Valentina Shevchenko successfully defended her UFC women’s flyweight title in the co-main event over Manon Fiorot, winning by a unanimous 48-47, 48-47, 48-47 decision to hand Fiorot (12-2, MMA) her first UFC loss.

Despite a closely contested fight, Shevchenko (25-4, 1 NC MMA) pushed the pace in the fourth and fifth rounds to tire out Fiorot and give the Frenchwoman little room to work after signs of early success through three gruelling rounds.

“I expected a hard fight,” Shevchenko, a 125-pounder from Kyrgyzstan, said in the Octagon following the win.