Makhachev makes light of stepping up a weight class to beat Della Maddalena by unanimous decision.
Published On 16 Nov 2025
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Islam Makhachev out-classed Jack Della Maddalena in a five-round beat-down to claim a unanimous decision victory and win the UFC welterweight championship at Madison Square Garden, with Valentina Shevchenko retaining her flyweight title in the co-main event.
Makhachev made light of stepping up a weight class after relinquishing the lightweight crown to chase a new challenge, utterly dominating his Australian opponent for 25 minutes with his smothering grappling to claim his 16th UFC victory in a row on Saturday night.
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The 34-year-old softened up his 29-year-old adversary with calf kicks before launching a relentless wrestling attack and Della Maddalena had no answer, getting stuck on the mat dealing with submission threats under tremendous pressure for long periods.
“This is my plan. It’s not a secret, all my opponents know this, and nobody can stop it,” Makhachev said before calling for his first title defence to be at the proposed event on the White House lawn in 2026.
All three judges scored the contest 50-45 as Makhachev became the 11th fighter in UFC history to hold titles in two different weight classes.
Della Maddalena – who ended an 18-fight career win streak, that featured 14 finishes – walked out of the cage without conducting the traditional post-fight interview and lost his first title defence since he beat Belal Muhammad via unanimous decision in May to wrest away the welterweight championship.
In the co-headliner, Zhang Weili’s dream of joining the elite group of double-champions came up short as the wily Shevchenko out-pointed her in another dominant performance to retain the flyweight crown.
Shevchenko (26-4-1) won her 11th overall title fight once she swept the scorecards 50-45 against Zhang.
Shevchenko displayed her full array of skills, sniping at her Chinese opponent and hurting her with punishing kicks to the body, and taking her to the mat and controlling her whenever she felt in danger.
The fighter from Krygyzstan became the first female UFC fighter to record 60 career takedowns – and the fight indeed ended with Zhang on her back.
“I was preparing for this fight as the hardest challenge in my life,” Shevchenko said in the cage after her customary victory dance.
“This is what I call the art of martial arts. When they are here in front of me, they cannot do anything.”
Shevchenko, right, lands a big right hand on Zhang Weili during UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden [Ishika Samant/Getty Images via AFP]
The show went on without an appearance from President Donald Trump, a close friend of UFC CEO Dana White, who normally has a cage side seat for the tri-state area’s biggest events.
UFC fans at the Garden, though, did get a big fight well ahead of the main event when a massive brawl broke out near one of the tunnels used for fight entrances and spilled through the stands and near press row.
The stir – which involved MMA fighter Dillon Danis – had the crowd howling and caused a short delay to the start of the pay-per-view card as police and security tried to bust up the melee.
Fists continued to fly at a furious pace once UFC 322 truly got under way.
Beneil Dariush (in 16 seconds of the first round), Carlos Prates (at 1:28 of the second round), and Michael Morales (at 3:27 of the first round) each won with devastating knockouts to open the card.
