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\u2019s record with 16 consecutive UFC wins and become the latest fighter to win belts in multiple divisions, having previously held the lightweight title.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
While both Makhachev and Weili will enter the cage with years of championship experience, they\u2019ll be the challengers to respected \u2013 and physically larger \u2013 champions in their new divisions.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what to watch for:<\/p>\n
Full UFC 322 card<\/p>\n
The main card for UFC 322 will start at 10 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n
Main event: Jack Della Maddalena (c) versus Islam Makhachev
\nCo-main: Valentina Shevchenko (c) versus Zhang Weili
\nSean Brady versus Michael Morales
\nLeon Edwards versus Carlos Prates
\nBeneil Dariush versus Beno\u00eet Saint Denis
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GettyImages-2246595780-scaled.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\n Shevchenko and Weili face off during the UFC 322 press conference. (Photo: Jeff Bottari \/ Zuffa LLC)<\/p>\n
Preliminary bouts (8 p.m. ET on ESPNews)<\/p>\n
Bo Nickal versus Rodolfo Vieira
\nRoman Kopylov versus Gregory Rodrigues
\nErin Blanchfield versus Tracy Cortez
\nMalcolm Wellmaker versus Ethyn Ewing<\/p>\n
Early prelims (6 p.m. ET on UFC Fight Pass)<\/p>\n
Kyle Daukaus versus Gerald Meerschaert
\nPat Sabatini versus Chepe Mariscal
\nAngela Hill versus Fatima Kline
\nBaisangur Susurkaev versus Eric McConico
\nViacheslav Borshchev versus Matheus Camilo
\nHow Islam Makhachev got here
\nRecord: 26-1 (5 KOs, 13 submissions)
\nLast result: Defeated Renato Moicano at UFC 311 via first-round submission to defend the lightweight title
\nBetting odds: -280 favorite (All betting odds via BetMGM)
\nWhat\u2019s at stake: An argument to be included on the Mt. Rushmore of UFC fighters. Silva\u2019s 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.
\nHow Jack Della Maddalena got here
\nRecord: 18-2 (12 KOs, 2 submissions)
\nLast result: Defeated Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 via unanimous decision to win the welterweight title
\nBetting odds: +225 underdog
\nWhat\u2019s at stake: Respect. Makhachev\u2019s inevitable move to welterweight cast a shadow over the division for years, but Della Maddalena proved against Muhammad that he\u2019s dangerously well-rounded. At just 29 years old, a win could propel Della Maddalena into a long reign of his own.
\nHow Zhang Weili got here
\nRecord: 26-3 (11 KOs, 8 submissions)
\nLast result: Defeated Tatiana Suarez at UFC 312 via unanimous decision to defend the strawweight title
\nBetting odds: +105 underdog
\nWhat\u2019s at stake: A spot in the women\u2019s MMA GOAT conversation. Amanda Nunes has a grip on that title, but if Weili joins her as the only women\u2019s double-champ in UFC history, it\u2019ll be impossible to leave her name out of that conversation.
\nHow Valentina Shevchenko got here
\nRecord: 25-4-1 (8 KOs, 7 submissions)
\nLast result: Defeated Manon Fiorot at UFC 315 via unanimous decision to defend the flyweight title
\nBetting odds: -125 favorite
\nWhat\u2019s 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\u2019s name to her win tally would be a defining bullet point on Shevchenko\u2019s resume.
\nOther notable fighters on the card
\nLeon 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.
\nSean Brady: The man who embarrassed Edwards in March, Brady enters the octagon Saturday as the UFC\u2019s No. 2 welterweight. To earn a title shot, Brady will need at least to hand Michael Morales his first career loss.
\nBeno\u00eet 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.
\nBo Nickal: After a legendary NCAA wrestling career at Penn State, Nickal was hyped \u2014 arguably, overhyped \u2014 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\u2019s rounded out his skillset.
\nEthyn Ewing: By far the most unknown fighter on the card, Ewing replaced Wellmaker\u2019s original opponent on less than 48 hours\u2019 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.
\nWhat they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n
Makhachev on sporting a black eye during fight week: \u201cIt was the hardest training camp of my life. I started like three months before, and it was a very hard camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
Weili on fighting at 125 pounds: \u201cI feel very different because before a fight at strawweight, I dieted for a long time. Every day I\u2019d watch delicious food, I\u2019d just watch. So this time, I can eat. I eat a lot, I have a lot of energy in training.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brady on deserving a title shot: \u201cI\u2019m not rushing things anymore. \u2026 If I get the title shot next, great. If not, I\u2019m a fighter. I\u2019m just going to keep fighting people until I\u2019m undeniable. I don\u2019t want to be one of these guys saying, \u2018I deserve this.\u2019 You earn what you get here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Prates on if he agrees with fans that Edwards is washed: \u201cI think the same. I think the new generation is coming. \u2026 I think everybody has their prime and I think his prime is gone already.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cortez on the importance of her coach, Angel Cejudo: \u201cAngel was my brother\u2019s best friend growing up before my brother passed away, and he ended up becoming my wrestling coach. \u2026 Him being here, to me, it feels like Jose\u2019s here. When I hear him, when I hear his voice, it just gives me that extra little push.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nickal on any regrets from his first few years: \u201cI 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\u2019 wishes were fulfilled, we\u2019re headlining the prelims.\u201d<\/p>\n
Moments from weigh-ins<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 UFC 322 is packed with two title fights, five active or recent champions still in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284590,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[49,48,641,1296,638,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-284589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mixed-martial-arts","12":"tag-mma","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284589","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284589\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}