Islam Makhachev, Valentina Shevchenko cruise to title wins at UFC 322
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Islam Makhachev (left) fighting Jack Della Maddalena in the welterweight championship bout during UFC 322 on Nov 15.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 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, 50-45, 50-45, 50-45, on Nov 15 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, 34, 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 entering the title defence against the Russian superstar, who vacated the lightweight belt earlier in 2025.
Makhachev recognises 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 in June 2026.
“I’m coming,” he said.
The co-main event saw Valentina Shevchenko of Kyrgyzstan retain her UFC flyweight title for the second time in her second title-holder stint (the first being from December 2018 to March 2023), doing so with effortless wrestling and explosive boxing across 25 minutes of action to overwhelm former 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. She 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,” she said following the fight.
Zhang (26-4 MMA) reassured her fan base 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,” the 36-year-old said.
Zhang had not tasted defeat since November 2021, sharing she needs to re-evaluate her next career phase before deciding whether to regain her strawweight title.
Welterweight Michael Morales of Ecuador put himself in title contention with a first-round TKO against American 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 at the hands of 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. Edwards (22-6 MMA) had not been knocked out in 14 years and has dropped three in a row since July 2024.
REUTERS
