UFC 322 went down on Saturday night at the historic Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. The stacked card did not disappoint as seven of the 14 fights on the card ended with a finish. The main card featured a pair of champions from lighter weight classes moving up to attempt to hold another title.
In the main event, Islam Makhachev successfully topped welterweight champ, Jack Della Maddalena, to capture a belt in his second weight class. In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko bested Zhang Weili, denying one of China’s brightest from holding a title in another weight class. The feature prelim along with all the fights on the main card, save for the co-main and main events, ended with exciting finishes. A rare case of five ranked losers looking for matchups off of the 19th UFC card held in New York.
Jack Della Maddalena
Islam Makhachev smothered and shut out Jack Della Maddalena over the course of five rounds to win a unanimous decision and capture the welterweight title. The loss was Jack’s first in nearly 10 years, dating back to just his second professional MMA fight.
JDM will head back to the drawing board, with no chance for an automatic rematch. Jack should look to welcome back Shavkat Rakhmonov to the octagon for his next fight. Rakhmonov is currently ranked at #3 in the division, though he has not competed since December of 2024 with his unanimous decision over Ian Garry. Shavkat who is 19-0 as a pro and 7-0 under the UFC banner, competed injured during that bout. He took the year off rehabbing and should be fully recovered and back in the octagon in 2026. Who better to take on than the former champ? Puts JDM right back in the fire with another huge opportunity. Shavkat gets an immediate chance to show that he’s ready to fight for the title. Everyone wins.
A good backup fight would be giving JDM Ian Garry, who is scheduled to fight former welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, in the co-main event on November 22 in Qatar. If Garry beats Belal, like JDM did, the UFC brass should match him against Jack. Fans would love that striking matchup. Ian is currently ranked at #6 within the division. Both of these matchups have Fight Night main event written all over them with the winner likely landing a title shot.
Maddalena’s next fight: Shavkat Rakhmonov or Ian Garry (If he beats Belal next week)
Zhang Weili
Valentina Shevchenko put on a masterclass in MMA as she cruised to a unanimous decision victory over Zhang Weili at UFC 322 to retain her flyweight title. The loss snapped a five-fight win streak for the former Women’s Strawweight Champion. And she was thwarted in her attempt at double champ status.
Zhang wasn’t definitive with her answer when questioned if she would be staying up at 125lbs. Considering that Zhang is 36 and has all but cleaned out the strawweight division, for the sake of this article, we’ll assume she’s here to stay.
Best matchup for Weili at this point would be giving her another fight against Rose Namajunas. Weili is 10-3 in the UFC. She’s lost to Valentina, obviously, and to Rose- twice. Namajunas stopped Zhang in the first round of their first bout in 2021, before defeating her in a split decision just a few months later, as well. Rose would lose the belt in mid 2022 before moving up to 125lbs herself. Since moving up Rose is 3-2 with losses to Manon Fiorot and Erin Blanchfield. Rose is currently ranked at #6 in the division and was last in action against Miranda Maverick in June when she captured a unanimous decision win. This bout could easily be a main event or co-main event for a Fight Night card.
Zhang’s next fight: Rose Namajunas III
Sean Brady
Michael Morales quickly melted Sean Brady in the first round of their bout on the main card of UFC 322 on Saturday. It was a devastating loss for Brady who had been building momentum since 2022 when he was stopped by Belal Muhammad. Since that fight, Brady had won three in a row stopping Kelvin Gastelum and Leon Edwards. Brady entered the fight ranked at #2 in the welterweight division while Morales was ranked at #8.
A great next fight for Sean Brady would be to take on Joaquin Buckley. Buckley is ranked at #7 at welterweight. Joaquin was riding a six-fight win steak before he lost a unanimous decision to former welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, back in June over the course of five rounds. Buckley stopped Stephen Thompson and Colby Covington in the two fights prior to his bout with Usman. He’s on that level (Top 10), and giving him a game competitor like Brady is the perfect opportunity for both men who have impressive resumes but suffered blemishes to their records recently.
Brady’s next fight: Joaquin Buckley
Leon Edwards
Carlos Prates added to his highlight reel as he dropped and finished the former welterweight champ, Leon Edwards, on Saturday. Edwards has yet to reestablish his footing within the division since losing his title to Belal Muhammad in July of 2024. With the loss last night, Leon has dropped three bouts in a row and has been finished in his last two appearances. Edwards entered this fight ranked at #4 while Carlos was ranked at #9.
For his next fight, Leon needs something manageable. Not exactly a gimmie fight, but not a young hungry undefeated killer either. Gilbert Burns could offer the perfect opponent for ‘Mr. Headshot’. Burns, now 39 years old, has dropped his last four fights and been finished in two. His most recent fight was back in May when he was picked apart and stopped by Michael Morales. This matchup would work perfectly and would be a bout that many fans would look forward too as it is a striker vs. grappler matchup between two tenured skillful vets. This fight could be placed anywhere, main card of a PPV or potentially a main or co main event for a fight night card. A confidence builder for both.
Edwards’s next fight: Gilbert Burns
Beneil Dariush
The main card of UFC 322 on Saturday started with bang, as Benoit Saint Denis face-planted Beneil Dariush in just 16 seconds. Dariush has now dropped three of his last four fights. Beneil has been finished in the first round of all three of those losses. Beneil entered the fight ranked at #9 in the division while Benoit was ranked at #13. Dariush also has the misfortune of missing weight coming in at 157.2lbs. for the bout.
Beneil’s next fight should be a rematch against Mateusz Gamrot. Even with Gamrot ranked at #8 in the division, the matchup still makes a lot of sense. The pair fought in late 2022 and Dariush won a unanimous decision. Since that bout, Gamrot is 4-2 and Dariush is 1-3. If you look a little closer however, Gamrot is 1-2 in his last three fights. This is including a submission defeat to Charles Oliveira in his most recent fight last month. Bout was solid the first time and running it back now could be an even more interesting affair for fans. Grappler vs. grappler matchup that could land on nearly any card in 2026.
Dariush’s next fight: Mateusz Gamrot II
