Belal Muhammad, Valentina Shevchenko to defend their titles at UFC 315 in Montreal

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UFC 315 in Montreal will feature two championship bouts with Belal (Remember The Name) Muhammad and Valentina (Bullet) Shevchenko putting their titles on the line May 10 at the Bell Centre.

Muhammad (24-3-0 with one no-contest) will defend his welterweight crown against Australian Jack Della Maddalena, ranked fourth among 170-pound contenders, in the main event. Shevchenko puts her flyweight title on the line against No. 5 Manon (The Beast) Fiorot of France in the co-main event

UFC president Dana White made the announcement on social media Wednesday night.

It’s the first UFC show in Montreal since UFC 186 in April 2015 when then-flyweight champion Demetrious (Mighty Mouse) Johnson defeated Japan’s Kyoji Horiguchi in the main event. UFC 315 will mark the UFC’s eighth show in Montreal and 35th overall in Canada, spread among 11 cities.

Della Maddalena had been slated to face England’s Leon (Rocky) Edwards, the No. 1 contender at 170 pounds, in a previously scheduled bout in London on a March 22 Fight Night card. No. 5 Sean Brady will step in for him against Edwards.

Muhammad took the welterweight title off Edwards at UFC 304 in July to extend his unbeaten run to 11 fights (10-0-0 with one no-contest). The 26-year-old from Chicago is 15-2-0 with one no-contest in the UFC.

Della Maddalena (17-2-0) has won 17 straight since dropping his first two bouts as a pro in May 2016. He has posted seven straight wins since arriving in the UFC, most recently knocking out No. 8 Gilbert (Durinho) Burns of Brazil at UFC 299 in July.

Shevchenko won her title back from Mexico’s Alexa Grasso last time out at UFC 306 in September in the third fight of a trilogy that saw Grasso win the title at UFC 285 in March 2023 and the two fight to a draw in September 2023.

The Kyrgyz-Peruvian champion is 13-3-1 in the UFC. Fiorot, meanwhile, has not lost since her pro debut in June 2018 with seven straight wins in the UFC.

White also announced a welterweight bout for Montreal between Burns (22-8-0) and No. 12 Michael Morales (17-0-0).

Burns has lost three straight, beaten by Brady, Della Maddalena and Muhammad. Ecuador’s Morales is 5-0-0 in the UFC.

The UFC had previously announced Montreal bouts for Grasso and Canadian middleweight Marc-Andre (Power-Bar) Barriault, both against Brazilian opposition.

Grasso takes on Natalia Silva while Barriault faces Bruno (Blindado) Silva.

Montreal staged the UFC’s first show in Canada, UFC 83 in April 2008, when local favourite Georges St-Pierre stopped Matt (The Terror) Serra in the second round to regain his welterweight title.

The promotion’s last show in Canada was a Fight Night card last November in Edmonton. The main event saw former flyweight champion Brandon (The Assassin Baby) Moreno win a decision over Amir (The Prince) Albazi.