Islam Makhachev, Valentina Shevchenko cruise to title wins at UFC 322

Former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev added a new belt to his trophy case, becoming the new UFC welterweight champion against Jack Della Maddalena by unanimous decision on Saturday night at UFC 322 in the main event at Madison Square Garden in New York.

A dominant wrestling base made the difference for Makhachev (28-1 MMA), who became the 11th fighter in UFC history to win multiple titles across divisions. The Russian, in winning all five rounds, 50-45, on the three judges' cards, also tied Anderson Silva's record for the UFC's longest winning streak with 16 consecutive outings. Australia's Della Maddalena (18-3 MMA) had not lost since May 2016, rallying off 18 in a row entering the title defense against the Russian superstar, who vacated the 155-pound belt earlier this year.

Makhachev recognizes his chance to elevate his status as MMA's most elite champion. Should he stay healthy, he wants a fight at the UFC's White House event next summer.

"I'm coming," Makhachev said.

The co-main event saw Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan make her second defense of her UFC flyweight title across two different titleholder stints (the other being from December 2018-March 2023), doing so with effortless wrestling and explosive boxing across 25 minutes of action to overwhelm former three-time UFC strawweight champion Zhang Weili of China 50-45, 50-45, 50-45.

Shevchenko (26-4-1 MMA) was classy in victory, keeping it simple regarding why she continues to improve despite being 37. Shevchenko joined former UFC two-division champion Amanda Nunes (23-5 MMA) with 11 title fight victories, the most in women's UFC history.

"This is the art of martial arts," Shevchenko said following the fight.

Weili (26-4 MMA) reassured her fanbase to "not worry about me," reiterating she gave the best effort she had after moving up in weight to fight Shevchenko after initially vacating her strawweight title (now held by Brazil's Mackenzie Dern).

"I will keep marching forward," Weili, 36, said.

Weili had not tasted defeat since November 2021, sharing she needs to re-evaluate her next career phase before opting to attempt to regain her 115-pound title.

Welterweight Michael Morales of Ecuador put himself in title contention with a first-round TKO against Philadelphia's Sean Brady in less than four minutes. Morales (19-0 MMA) ran his record to 7-0 in the UFC since 2022, whereas Brady (18-2 MMA) had won three in a row.

The finishes kept rolling as former UFC welterweight champion Leon Edwards of England suffered a knockout loss delivered by Brazil's Carlos Prates. Prates (23-7 MMA) landed a straight left to secure the second-round win, earning back-to-back victories to close the year strong. Edwards (22-6 MMA) had not been knocked out in his 14-year career and has dropped three in a row since July 2024.

Lightweight Benoit Saint Denis made short work of Beneil Dariush to open the main card with a 16-second TKO in a 157-pound catchweight bout. Saint Denis (16-3, 1 NC MMA) became the first fighter in over two years to finish Dariush (23-7-1 MMA), who has three of his last four bouts, all via KO/TKO.

-Field Level Media