UFC 322 brought two championship fights to Madison Square Garden, with welterweight title action closing the show and a highly anticipated women's bout serving as the co-main event. The night also featured surprising results on the undercard as popular fighters suffered setbacks.
In the main event, welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena defended his belt against former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who moved up in weight for the opportunity. Della Maddalena entered the fight looking for his first title defense, while Makhachev was making his sixth consecutive appearance in a championship fight. Heading into the bout the pair were ranked No. 8 (Della Maddalena) and No. 2 (Makhachev) on ESPN's men's pound-for-pound list.
The co-main event saw former strawweight champion Zhang Weili move up to the women's flyweight division to challenge Valentina Shevchenko for the title. Zhang came in as the top-ranked fighter on the women's pound-for-pound list, with Shevchenko at No. 2, making the matchup a clash between two of the division's most decorated competitors.
On the undercard, fan favorites Malcolm Wellmaker and Tr
