On Saturday, November 15, the UFC is set to electrify Madison Square Garden in New York City with UFC 322, a thrilling pay-per-view event spotlighting two high-stakes title bouts.
The main event promises intense action as Jack Della Maddalena, the reigning UFC welterweight champion, aims to successfully defend his 170-pound title for the first time. His challenger is none other than former featherweight champion Islam Makhachev, who is eager to claim a second championship title.
In the co-main event, the stakes are equally high. Valentina Shevchenko, the UFC women’s flyweight champion, seeks to fortify her reign with a second consecutive title defense in her current tenure. Standing in her way is Zhang Weili, a former UFC strawweight champion hungry for victory.
The action doesn’t stop there. On the same pay-per-view card, top-ranked welterweight Sean Brady is determined to prove he deserves a shot at the title. He faces off against the unbeaten Michael Morales in what promises to be a gripping 170-pound matchup.
Fans can catch all the excitement of UFC 322 streaming live on ESPN+ pay-per-view.
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev
UFC 322 Pay-Per-View Card
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev
Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili
Sean Brady vs. Michael Morales
Leon Edwards vs. Carlos Prates
Beneil Dariush vs. Benoit Saint-Denis
UFC 322 Preliminary Card
Bo Nickal vs. Rodolfo Vieira
Roman Kopylov vs. Gregory Rodrigues
Erin Blanchfield vs. Tracy Cortez
Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Cody Haddon
UFC 322 Early Prelims
Kyle Daukaus vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Pat Sabatini vs. Chepe Mariscal
Angela Hill vs. Fatima Kline
Susurkaev vs. Eric McConico
*Card is subject to change
UFC 322 Main Event: Jack Della Maddalena
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – MAY 10: Jack Della Maddalena of Australia reacts after his unanimous-decision victory against Belal Muhammad in the UFC welterweight championship bout during the UFC 315 event at Bell Centre on May 10, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
Zuffa LLC
Jack Della Maddalena (18-2) signed with the UFC in September 2021 following a decision win over Ange Loosa on a Dana White’s Contender Series card. Before the bout, UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby said of Della Maddalena, “I thinkDella Maddalena is probably the best prospect out of New Zealand or Australia at welterweight. He’s a big guy. He throws a ton of offense, and he’s really good in the clinch. The win over Loosa marked the first time Della Maddalena had won a fight via decision. He went into the bout on a run of nine stoppages (eight knockouts, one submission) after opening his professional career at 0-2 with two stoppage setbacks. Della Maddalena was the reigning and defending Eternal MMA welterweight titleholder heading into the DWCS card.
The Australian scrapper opened his official UFC run with four first-round stoppage wins and three “Performance of the Night” bonuses. He finished Pete Rodriguez, Ramazan Emeev, and Danny Roberts by knockout before stopping Randy Brown via submission.
In his first fight to go the distance under the UFC banner, Della Maddalena was in a “Fight of the Night” bonus-winning affair with Bassil Hafez, which Della Maddalena won via split decision. He followed that with another split decision, topping Kevin Holland in September 2023.
Della Maddalena followed his victory over Holland with a third-round knockout triumph over former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns in March 2024.
Della Maddalena claimed the UFC welterweight title in May 2025, defeating then-champion Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision at UFC 315.
Over the course of his eight-fight UFC career, Della Maddalena has picked up six fight-night bonus awards.
UFC 322 Main Event: Islam Makhachev
NEWARK, NEW JERSEY – JUNE 01: Islam Makhachev of Russia prepares to face Dustin Poirier in the UFC lightweight championship fight during the UFC 302 event at Prudential Center on June 01, 2024 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
Islam Makhachev (27-1) was 11-0 when he joined the UFC in 2015. He won his promotional debut, submitting Leo Kuntz in the second round. In his second scrap under the UFC banner, Adriano Martins knocked out Makhachev in the first round. That loss remains the only blemish on the record of the now 32-year-old Makhachev.
After the loss to Martins, Makhachev ran off 10 straight wins. That run earned him the No. 4 spot in the UFC lightweight rankings and set him up to face ex-champ Charles Oliveira in a battle for the vacant lightweight crown. Makhachev claimed the belt with a second-round submission win in 2022.
In his first two title defenses, Makhachev faced then-UFC featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski. He won the first bout at UFC 284 by decision and followed that with a knockout win over Volkanovski at UFC 294.
In June 2024, the UFC matched Makhachev against former interim UFC lightweight titleholder Dustin Poirier. Makhachev submitted Poirier in the fifth round of that contest, which headlined UFC 302.
In his most recent outing, Makhachev defended his crown with a quick submission win over late replacement Renato Moicano, who stepped in to replace Arman Tsarukyan on weigh-in day. The victory gave Makhachev the record for most consecutive UFC lightweight title defenses at four.
In his past five fights, Makhachev has earned five fight-night bonus awards.
UFC 322 Co-Main Event: Valentina Shevchenko
MONTREAL, QUEBEC – MAY 10: Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan celebrates after defeating Manon Fiorot of France to retain the women’s flyweight title during UFC 315 at Bell Centre on May 10, 2025 in Montreal, Quebec. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Valentina Shevchenko (25-4-1) has been with the UFC since December 2015, when the promotion signed her as a short-notice replacement for Germaine de Randamie against Sarah Kaufman on a UFC on FOX card. Shevchenko won that bantamweight fight by split decision.
Shevchenko stayed at 135 for her next four fights, going 2-2. Her wins came against former UFC champ Holly Holm and future titleholder Julianna Pena. Her losses, both by decision, came against Amanda Nunes, including a September 2017 split decision setback against then-champ Nunes.
Following her loss to Nunes, Shevchenko dropped to 125 pounds and went on one of the most impressive runs in the history of the UFC women’s divisions.
She put an absolute beating on Priscila Cachoeira in her UFC 125-pound debut. In her next fight, Shevchenko faced ex-women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk for the vacant flyweight title. Shevchenko won that scrap via decision.
She then defended her title seven times before falling to Grasso at UFC 285. The two then fought to a split draw in a September 2023 scrap. The trilogy fight between the two saw Shevchenko walk away from UFC 306 with the title back in her hands.
In her most recent outing, which served as the co-main event of UFC 315 in May of this year, Shevchenko successfully defended her title for the first time in her second reign with a unanimous decision win over Manon Fiorot.
Shevchenko holds the following records in the UFC women’s flyweight division:
Most WIns: 11
Most KO/TKO wins: 4
Longest winning streak: 9
Most title fight wins: 10
Most fight time: 4:07:47
Most control time: 1:27:25
Most top position time: 1:15:53
Fewest strikes absorbed per minute: 1.86
Total strikes landed: 1,963
Takedowns landed: 49
UFC 322 Co-Main Event: Zhang Weili
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – FEBRUARY 09: Zhang Weili of China reacts after a victory against Tatiana Suarez in the UFC strawweight championship fight during the UFC 312 event at Qudos Bank Arena on February 09, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
Zuffa LLC
Zhang Weili (26-3) was in her second stint with the UFC’s 115-pound title when she decided to move up to 125 pounds and pursue the UFC flyweight championship.
The 36-year-old first captured the 115-pound belt in August 2019 in her fourth fight with the UFC. Zhang defeated Jessica Andrade via TKO at the 0:42 mark of the first round of their UFC Fight Night bout in China to capture the belt. Zhang’s first defense of her crown came in March 2020, when she scored a split decision over former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.
Zhang’s title reign ended in April 2021 when Rose Namajunas scored a highlight-reel head kick knockout win over the champ 78 seconds into their UFC 261 scrap. Namajunas held onto the belt in the rematch in November 2021, defeating Zhang via split decision.
Zhang bounced back from those back-to-back defeats in June 2022 when she once again beat Jedrzejczyk, this time scoring a knockout victory.
In November 2022, Zhang found herself once again fighting for the belt. She reclaimed UFC gold with a submission win over Carla Esparza.
Zhang vacates the title having defended the crown three times in her second championship run. She defeated Amanda Lemos via decision in August 2023, following that by beating Yan Xiaonan via decision at UFC 300. In her most recent outing, Zhang earned a decision over Tatiana Suarez in the co-main event of UFC 312 in February of 2025.
We will have more on UFC 322 as fight night nears.
