Jack Della Maddlena vs. Islam Makhachev and Valentina Shevchenko vs. Weili Zhang is the one-two punch headlining UFC 322 in New York City this Saturday.
They are both, in essence, champion versus champion fights, with the caveat that both Makhachev and Zhang were forced to give up their existing belts to pursue opportunities in new weight classes. That’s the reality of the UFC as it heads into the Paramount+ era. It seems the promotion is done with stars holding up divisions, and as much as double-champs could be fun, it’s hard to blame them.
Still, it’s something of a surprise with these two names, given both Islam Makhachev and Weili Zhang are future Hall of Famers (not unlike Valentina Shevchenko).
Weigh-ins for UFC 322 took place on Friday, with only one miss: Beneil Dariush came in 1.2lbs heavy for his fight with Benoit Saint-Denis. Dariush did not continue to cut, and instead pays a 20% fine, but the fight moves forward at a catchweight.
Check out highlights from Friday’s weigh-in, plus results, below.
UFC 322: Maddalena vs. Makhachev Weigh-In Results
Main card
Welterweight: Jack Della Maddalena (c) (169.8) vs. Islam Makhachev (170) – for the UFC welterweight championship
Women’s Flyweight: Valentina Shevchenko (c) (124.6) vs. Weili Zhang (124.2) – for the UFC women’s strawweight championship
Welterweight: Sean Brady (169.4) vs. Michael Morales (170.6)
Welterweight: Leon Edwards (170) vs. Carlos Prates (169.6)
Lightweight: Beneil Dariush (157.2)* vs. Benoît Saint Denis (155.6)
Preliminary card
Middleweight: Bo Nickal (185.8) vs. Rodolfo Vieira (186)
Middleweight: Roman Kopylov (185.2) vs. Gregory Rodrigues (185.8)
Women’s Flyweight: Erin Blanchfield (125.8) vs. Tracy Cortez (125.6)
Featherweight: Malcolm Wellmaker (143.6) vs. Ethyn Ewing (145.2)
Early preliminary card
Middleweight: Kyle Daukaus (186) vs. Gerald Meerschaert (185.6)
Featherweight: Pat Sabatini (145.6) vs. Chepe Mariscal (145.6)
Women’s Strawweight: Angela Hill (115.6) vs. Fatima Kline (115.4)
Middleweight: Baisangur Susurkaev (185.2) vs. Eric McConico (185.6)
Lightweight: Viacheslav Borshchev (155.8) vs. Matheus Camilo (155.8)
* Dariush weighed in 1.2lbs over the lightweight non-title limit, while stripped down, for his fight with Benoit Saint-Denis. Dariush will forfeit 20% of his fight purse, bout moves forward.
