The UFC 322 main event is confirmed, as Jack Della Maddalena faces Islam Makhachev at Madison Square Garden in New York on November 15. Della Maddalena puts his welterweight title on the line.
Australian Della Maddalena (18-2) defends his 170-pound belt for the first time. The 28-year-old Perth native claimed the title in May, dethroning Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision.
Former lightweight champion Makhachev (27-1) moves up a weight class and looks to become a champion in his second division. The 33-year-old is coming off a first-round submission win over Renato Moicano in January, which marked his fourth successful championship defense at 155 lbs.
Dana White confirmed the Della Maddalena vs Makhachev showdown as the UFC 322 main event on Thursday. The UFC CEO also announced the co-main event, pitting Valentina Shevchenko against Zhang Weili.
Two-time flyweight champion Shevchenko (25-4-1) of Kyrgyzstan makes the second defense of her title during her second reign. Two-time strawweight champion Weili (26-3) of China moves up a weight class and looks to conquer her second division.
Shevchenko is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Manon Fiorot in May, while Weili defeated Tatiana Suarez by unanimous decision in February.
Also confirmed for the UFC 322 card is a welterweight bout between former champion Leon Edwards (22-5, 1 NC) of England and Carlos Prates (22-7) of Brazil.
Edwards aims to bounce back from two losses to Sean Brady and Belal Muhammad. Prates knocked out Geoff Neal in the first round at UFC 319 in mid-August.
Additionally, Tracy Cortez (12-2) of Phoenix, AZ, and New York’s Erin Blanchfield (13-2) are expected to meet in a flyweight rematch. Cortez defeated Blanchfield by split decision in February 2019.
The current UFC 322 lineup is as follows:
- Jack Della Maddalena (c) vs. Islam Makhachev, UFC welterweight title
- Valentina Shevchenko (c) vs. Zhang Weili, UFC flyweight title
- Tracy Cortez vs. Erin Blanchfield, flyweight
- Leon Edwards vs. Carlos Prates, welterweight
Jandiroba vs Dern 2 co-headlines UFC 321
The rematch between Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern is official for the UFC 321 co-main event. The fight card airs live from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 25.
Jandiroba (22-3) of Brazil and Dern (15-5) of Phoenix, AZ, clash for the UFC strawweight title vacated by Zhang Weili. Dern won their first fight in December 2020, defeating Jandiroba by unanimous decision.
Also official is a bantamweight bout between Umar Nurmagomedov (18-1) and Mario Bautista (16-2) of Winnemucca, NV.
Nurmagomedov dropped a unanimous decision to Merab Dvalishvili in January in his bid to claim the bantamweight title. Bautista scored a unanimous decision over Patchy Mix in June.
In the previously announced UFC 321 main event, Tom Aspinall (15-3) of England defends his heavyweight title against former interim champion Ciryl Gane (13-2) of France.
The current UFC 321 lineup is as follows:
- Tom Aspinall (c) vs. Ciryl Gane, UFC heavyweight title
- Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern, vacant UFC strawweight title
- Alexander Volkov vs. Jailton Almeida, heavyweight
- Aleksandar Rakic vs. Azamat Murzakanov, light heavyweight
- Hamdy Abdelwahab vs. Chris Barnett, heavyweight
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. Jun Yong Park, middleweight
- Azat Maksum vs. Mitch Raposo, flyweight
- Mizuki Inoue vs. Jaqueline Amorim, strawweight
- Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Matheus Camilo, lightweight
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Mario Bautista, bantamweight
In addition, a UFC Fight Night card has reportedly been set for November 8 in Las Vegas, while UFC 323 has been reported for December.