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Two gruesome photos have shown the extent of Belal Muhammad’s injuries at UFC 315, where he dropped the welterweight title to Jack Della Maddalena.
On Saturday (10 May), “JDM” outpointed Muhammad in Montreal, Canada, to end the latter’s title reign in his first defence.
Muhammad, known for his wrestling prowess, was undone by Della Maddalena’s sharp striking, though the now-former champion fought valiantly.
At the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White revealed that Muhammad, 36, had suffered a broken nose, broken orbital bone and torn lip.
And the last of those injuries in particular was evident in a pair of photos that went viral on social media after UFC 315. Readers can view the images below, but discretion is advised to the squeamish.
“Respect”, wrote White while sharing one image, while Muhammad wrote on his own profile: “Allah[’s] plan is the best plan, Alhamdillah [sic] for everything. Thank you to all my supporters. I been here before and I’ll be back.”
Muhammad won the title last July, outpointing Britain’s Leon Edwards in Manchester, before a planned title defence against Shavkat Rakhmonov fell through in December.
Muhammad suffered a bone infection to scupper that bout, which the UFC planned to reorganise for this spring. This time, however, Rakhmonov was injured. As a result, JDM was taken from March’s UFC London main event against Edwards and placed in Saturday’s title fight.
The Australian, 28, beat Muhammad 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 to secure the belt, which he is expected to defend against Islam Makhachev this year.
Makhachev, the reigning lightweight champion, has eyed the welterweight title for some time but said he would not challenge Muhammad, due to his friendship and training history with the Palestinian-American.
When Makhachev moves up to challenge Della Maddalena, Ilia Topuria and Charles Oliveira are expected to clash over the lightweight title – an interim version, or the vacant belt if Makhachev is forced to relinquish his gold.
Topuria held the featherweight title until recently, when he vacated the belt with the aim of challenging for the lightweight strap. Oliveira, meanwhile, is a former lightweight champion.
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