A pair of huge title fights will headline UFC’s annual trip to Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, as announced by Dana White on Thursday evening.
UFC 322, this year’s pay-per-view presentation from the historic entertainment venue, will be headlined by a clash between welterweight champ Jack Della Maddalena and former pound-for-pound top men’s MMA fighter Islam Makhachev.
Makhachev has been nothing short of dominant in his UFC career, putting together a 15-fight win streak at lightweight, which earned him a multi-year run with the division’s title. After wins over names like Dustin Poirier, Alexander Volkanovski, and Charles Oliveira, Makhachev vacated his lightweight belt this year with the goal of chasing success at the 170-pound division.
The matchup is a huge first test for Della Maddalena as champ. The Australian striker earned champ status earlier this year when he went the distance against Belal Muhammad for a unanimous decision victory. Before then, he put on a stretch of seven straight UFC wins, including many by stunning highlight-reel TKO fashion.
Earlier in the night, one of the biggest women’s MMA fights that can be made will finally take place, as two-time UFC Strawweight Champion Zhang Weili moves up to face Valentina Shevchenko in a flyweight title bout.
Shevchenko and Zhang have both shown a high level of success in their respective divisions, putting them first and second on the women’s pound-for-pound standings. Soon, they will cross paths for the first time ever.
Shevchenko is arguably best known for her initial reign with the flyweight belt, a record-setting run that saw her defend the title seven times and hold it for over 1,500 days. After losing her belt to Alexa Grasso in 2023, she won the title back in a trilogy fight between them last year and has since continued her high level of success in the class, recently defeating Manon Fiorot as well.
Zhang has been a force at strawweight since 2022, when she reclaimed the belt with a dominant showing over Carla Esparza. She has since defended the title three times, taking down rising names like Tatiana Suarez and Yan Xiaonan with thorough performances. In order to further her legacy by beating Shevchenko up a weight class, Zhang has vacated her title at 115 pounds.
UFC has been quick to find a replacement for Zhang, as it was also announced on Thursday night that ranked strawweight contenders Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba will battle it out for the vacant title at UFC 321 on October 25, a card set to take place in Abu Dhabi.
Jandiroba has inched her way toward a shot in recent months, beating former title challengers Yan and Amanda Lemos. She’ll now look to get past Dern, who has hung around the strawweight rankings for years but never earned a crack at the title.
UFC’s MSG card has become a major part of the promotion’s calendar ever since 2016, when they made their debut in the city. Last year’s card was headlined by a heavyweight title matchup between Jon Jones and former champ Stipe Miocic. Past lineups have also featured Conor McGregor, Georges St-Pierre, Daniel Cormier, Israel Adesanya, Nate Diaz, and Alex Pereira.
