NEW YORK — UFC 322 is packed with two title fights, five active or recent champions still in their relative prime and the potential to alter opinions about all-time greats by the end of Saturday night.

The pay-per-view will mark the ninth UFC event at Madison Square Garden since mixed martial arts cards were legalized in New York in 2016, and one of the final UFC events sold by ESPN before the sporting promotion begins a seven-year, $7.7 billion media-rights deal with Paramount in 2026.

In the main event, Islam Makhachev will make a long-awaited jump to 170 pounds, where he will challenge welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena. A victory for Makhachev would tie Anderson Silva’s record with 16 consecutive UFC wins and become the latest fighter to win belts in multiple divisions, having previously held the lightweight title.

And right before Makhachev and Della Maddalena step into the octagon, Zhang Weili hopes to seize her own belt in a second division in the co-main event. The Chinese legend vacated her strawweight belt in October to move up to flyweight and challenge champion Valentina Shevchenko. Weili, who defended the strawweight title four times across two reigns, would become the second woman in UFC history to become a double champion with a win.

While both Makhachev and Weili will enter the cage with years of championship experience, they’ll be the challengers to respected – and physically larger – champions in their new divisions.

Here’s what to watch for:

Full UFC 322 card

The main card for UFC 322 will start at 10 p.m. ET.

Main event: Jack Della Maddalena (c) versus Islam Makhachev
Co-main: Valentina Shevchenko (c) versus Zhang Weili
Sean Brady versus Michael Morales
Leon Edwards versus Carlos Prates
Beneil Dariush versus Benoît Saint Denis

Shevchenko and Weili face off during the UFC 322 press conference. (Photo: Jeff Bottari / Zuffa LLC)

Preliminary bouts (8 p.m. ET on ESPNews)

Bo Nickal versus Rodolfo Vieira
Roman Kopylov versus Gregory Rodrigues
Erin Blanchfield versus Tracy Cortez
Malcolm Wellmaker versus Ethyn Ewing

Early prelims (6 p.m. ET on UFC Fight Pass)

Kyle Daukaus versus Gerald Meerschaert
Pat Sabatini versus Chepe Mariscal
Angela Hill versus Fatima Kline
Baisangur Susurkaev versus Eric McConico
Viacheslav Borshchev versus Matheus Camilo
How Islam Makhachev got here
Record: 26-1 (5 KOs, 13 submissions)
Last result: Defeated Renato Moicano at UFC 311 via first-round submission to defend the lightweight title
Betting odds: -280 favorite (All betting odds via BetMGM)
What’s at stake: An argument to be included on the Mt. Rushmore of UFC fighters. Silva’s 16-fight win streak is a major mark to match, especially in this era, and winning a second belt would give Makhachev a milestone his mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov never notched.
How Jack Della Maddalena got here
Record: 18-2 (12 KOs, 2 submissions)
Last result: Defeated Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 via unanimous decision to win the welterweight title
Betting odds: +225 underdog
What’s at stake: Respect. Makhachev’s inevitable move to welterweight cast a shadow over the division for years, but Della Maddalena proved against Muhammad that he’s dangerously well-rounded. At just 29 years old, a win could propel Della Maddalena into a long reign of his own.
How Zhang Weili got here
Record: 26-3 (11 KOs, 8 submissions)
Last result: Defeated Tatiana Suarez at UFC 312 via unanimous decision to defend the strawweight title
Betting odds: +105 underdog
What’s at stake: A spot in the women’s MMA GOAT conversation. Amanda Nunes has a grip on that title, but if Weili joins her as the only women’s double-champ in UFC history, it’ll be impossible to leave her name out of that conversation.
How Valentina Shevchenko got here
Record: 25-4-1 (8 KOs, 7 submissions)
Last result: Defeated Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 via unanimous decision to defend the flyweight title
Betting odds: -125 favorite
What’s at stake: The same thing as Weili. Before her stumble against Alexa Grasso in 2023, a loss she avenged, Shevchenko had only been defeated by Nunes. Adding Weili’s name to her win tally would be a defining bullet point on Shevchenko’s resume.
Other notable fighters on the card
Leon Edwards: The 34-year-old was immortalized with his final-minute headkick against Kamaru Usman in 2022, then defended the welterweight title twice. But pitiful performances in his last two bouts have many wondering if his days as a serious contender are over. His younger opponent, dangerous Brazilian striker Carlos Prates, thinks so.
Sean Brady: The man who embarrassed Edwards in March, Brady enters the octagon Saturday as the UFC’s No. 2 welterweight. To earn a title shot, Brady will need at least to hand Michael Morales his first career loss.
Benoît Saint Denis: Saint Denis looked like he was on a fast track toward a title, dominating in five of his first six UFC fights. Then his hype got stunted by two brutal losses in 2024. Saint Denis has bounced back with two impressive wins this year, but will need to prove he can beat rugged veterans to work his way back into contention.
Bo Nickal: After a legendary NCAA wrestling career at Penn State, Nickal was hyped — arguably, overhyped — to take over the middleweight division. That train got derailed as he was knocked out in a lopsided affair to Reinier De Ridder in May. Fighting again in MSG, where he was booed a year ago, Nickal has a chance to resurrect his career and show that he’s rounded out his skillset.
Ethyn Ewing: By far the most unknown fighter on the card, Ewing replaced Wellmaker’s original opponent on less than 48 hours’ notice. The 27-year-old has never fought in the UFC and last fought professionally on Nov. 7, when he won the A1 Combat bantamweight title. Two wins in eight days would be remarkable.
What they’re saying

Makhachev on sporting a black eye during fight week: “It was the hardest training camp of my life. I started like three months before, and it was a very hard camp.”

Weili on fighting at 125 pounds: “I feel very different because before a fight at strawweight, I dieted for a long time. Every day I’d watch delicious food, I’d just watch. So this time, I can eat. I eat a lot, I have a lot of energy in training.”

Brady on deserving a title shot: “I’m not rushing things anymore. … If I get the title shot next, great. If not, I’m a fighter. I’m just going to keep fighting people until I’m undeniable. I don’t want to be one of these guys saying, ‘I deserve this.’ You earn what you get here.”

Prates on if he agrees with fans that Edwards is washed: “I think the same. I think the new generation is coming. … I think everybody has their prime and I think his prime is gone already.”

Cortez on the importance of her coach, Angel Cejudo: “Angel was my brother’s best friend growing up before my brother passed away, and he ended up becoming my wrestling coach. … Him being here, to me, it feels like Jose’s here. When I hear him, when I hear his voice, it just gives me that extra little push.”

Nickal on any regrets from his first few years: “I made a pretty arrogant comment on Ariel Helwani the first time I went on that, saying of course I would be on the main card. And so a lot of people have given me a lot of flak for that, and it finally happened, you guys’ wishes were fulfilled, we’re headlining the prelims.”

Moments from weigh-ins

Della Maddalena provided the scare of the week on the scales, initially weighing in at 170.4 for the welterweight title fight. While fighters are afforded up to a pound over the weight class limit in non-championship bouts, fighters must weigh in at or below the weight class limit to be eligible to win a championship. After removing his shorts and stepping back on the scale behind a curtain, Della Maddelena weighed in at 169.8 pounds to make the bout official.

Dariush weighed in at 157.2 pounds, 1.2 pounds above the lightweight limit, and will thus forfeit 20 percent of his fight purse to his opponent, Saint Denis. The bout will still proceed as scheduled.