Carlos Barreto: UFC 315 Title Fight Results Could Impact Four Divisions

The results of the two title bouts at UFC 315 could ultimately affect several weight classes.

On his weekly podcast, “Papo de Luta,” UFC Fight Pass Brazil commentator Carlos Barreto noted the direct impact caused by Valentina Shevchenko and Jack Della Maddalena’s victories at UFC 315. Barreto admitted that he was surprised by both results, which could impact as many as four divisions.

“I expected an extremely aggressive Manon [Fiorot] to surprise Valentina with her good speed, greater reach and tactical understanding, but it ooks like the trilogy with Alexa rekindled the best Valentina,” Barreto said. “She came back renewed, dominated Fiorot and showed once again that she is among the greatest of all time.”

Barreto also thought that Muhammad would take away Maddalena’s space for striking by mixing up his attacks.

“The [Gilbert] Burns fight was very good for Maddalena to correct gaps (mainly takedown defense),” Barreto said. “Belal surprised me by fighting tactically within the Australian’s specialty. Maddalena deserved to win.”

Barreto now expects there to be some long-ranging implications in the UFC as a result of those fights.

"Based on the posts exchanged between [Weili] Zhang and Valentina, everything indicates that the UFC will hold a super fight between the two champions. So if Zhang moves up, Virna Jandiroba will have to wait to fight for the strawweight belt or, perhaps, have another fight. The same goes for Natalia Silva, who after her beautiful victory over Alexa Grasso became No. 1 in the rankings and, with Valentina fighting Zhang, will have to wait or perhaps fight the winner of Maycee Barber and Erin Blanchfield,” he said.

The situation is similar to Maddalena's impact on the men's lightweight and welterweight divisions.

"Everything indicates that Makhachev will move up to fight Maddalena, while Charles Oliveira and Ilia Topuria should fight for the interim lightweight title,” Barreto said. “It's been a long time since I remember an event that had such an impact on so many divisions.”