UFC 322 results: Della Maddalena vs Makhachev full card recap

Quick hits from UFC 322

• Islam Makhachev becomes a two-division UFC champion and extends his winning streak in the promotion to 16, tying Anderson Silva’s all-time record.
• Across five rounds, Makhachev out-landed Della Maddalena 140–30 in total strikes, went 4-for-4 on takedowns and racked up more than 19 minutes of control time.
• Valentina Shevchenko shuts out Zhang Weili on all three cards, adding another title defense and passing the 60-takedown mark for her UFC career.
• Michael Morales and Carlos Prates deliver brutal knockouts over Sean Brady and Leon Edwards respectively, instantly reshaping the welterweight ladder.
• Benoît Saint Denis blasts Beneil Dariush in just 16 seconds, one of the fastest knockouts ever in a high-level lightweight bout.
• Bo Nickal rebounds from his first career loss with a third-round head-kick KO of Rodolfo Vieira to close the prelims in spectacular fashion.
• Chaos outside the cage: an early-arena brawl involving Dillon Danis led Dana White to publicly declare Danis is banned from future UFC events.

UFC 322 results: full card

Here’s every bout from UFC 322, listed from the main event down to the early prelims, with method, time and a quick note on why each result matters.

Main card

• Welterweight title:
  Islam Makhachev def. Jack Della Maddalena (c) via unanimous decision (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) – R5, 5:00 • Makhachev becomes welterweight champion and a two-division UFC titleholder.
• Women’s flyweight title:
  Valentina Shevchenko (c) def. Zhang Weili via unanimous decision (50–45, 50–45, 50–45) – R5, 5:00 • Shevchenko dominates in a champion-versus-champion superfight.
• Welterweight:
  Michael Morales def. Sean Brady via TKO (punches) – R1, 3:27 • Morale remains unbeaten and puts away a top contender in violent fashion.
• Welterweight:
  Carlos Prates def. Leon Edwards via KO (punch) – R2, 1:28 • Prates becomes the first fighter to knock out the former champion Edwards.
• Lightweight:
  Benoît Saint Denis def. Beneil Dariush via KO (punch) – R1, 0:16 • A blistering finish that rockets Saint Denis back into the title conversation.

Preliminary card

• Middleweight:
  Bo Nickal def. Rodolfo Vieira via KO (head kick) – R3, 2:24 • Statement rebound for Nickal with a walk-off high kick and a $50k bonus.
• Middleweight:
  Gregory Rodrigues def. Roman Kopylov via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) – R3, 5:00 • “Robocop” wins a tactical, high-output striking battle.
• Women’s flyweight:
  Erin Blanchfield def. Tracy Cortez via submission (rear-naked choke) – R2, 4:44 • Blanchfield avenges a 2019 loss and reasserts herself as a title threat.
• Featherweight:
  Ethyn Ewing def. Malcolm Wellmaker via unanimous decision (30–27, 29–28, 29–28) – R3, 5:00 • Short-notice newcomer hands Wellmaker his first professional loss.

Early prelims

• Middleweight:
  Kyle Daukaus def. Gerald Meerschaert via submission (D’Arce/brabo choke) – R1, 0:50 • Daukaus returns to the UFC with a signature choke in under a minute.
• Featherweight:
  Pat Sabatini def. Chepe Mariscal via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 30–27) – R3, 5:00 • Sabatini’s grappling and clinch game grind out a clear win.
• Women’s strawweight:
  Fatima Kline def. Angela Hill via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–26, 29–28) – R3, 5:00 • Kline out-wrestles and out-strikes the veteran in a breakout performance.
• Middleweight:
  Baisangur Susurkaev def. Eric McConico via KO (punch) – R3, 1:38 • After back-and-forth early rounds, Susurkaev finds a clean counter for a highlight knockout.
• Lightweight:
  Matheus Camilo def. Viacheslav Borshchev via unanimous decision (30–27, 30–27, 29–28) – R3, 5:00 • Camilo’s grappling and cardio carry him past a dangerous striker.

Main event: Makhachev’s control breaks Della Maddalena’s streak

How the fight played out

Coming in on short notice up a weight class, Islam Makhachev calmly walked into enemy territory and shut down one of the UFC’s most dangerous boxers over 25 one-sided minutes. Jack Della Maddalena tried to claim the center early and test Makhachev’s chin, probing with his jab and trademark body work, but the challenger never allowed the Australian to get into his usual flowing rhythm.

From the first clean entry, the story was familiar: level change, body lock, mat return. Makhachev chained his wrestling together beautifully, often finishing takedowns off the cage and immediately stepping into dominant rides. On the floor he mixed short ground-and-pound with suffocating chest-to-chest pressure, forcing Della Maddalena to carry his weight and accept long stretches with his back to the canvas.

When the fight did reset on the feet, Makhachev’s composure and defensive responsibility showed. He kicked the legs, stabbed the body, and kept his own back off the fence, rarely trading in the pocket for long. By championship rounds, Della Maddalena was visibly slowed and in pure survival mode, defending rather than mounting the kind of aggressive rally fans had seen in his earlier wars.

The numbers behind the domination

On paper, the shutout looked even more brutal. Makhachev out-landed Della Maddalena 140–30 in total strikes and 30–18 in significant strikes, while pitching a 4-for-4 performance on takedowns and stacking up more than 19 minutes of control time. The champion at lightweight essentially turned a feared welterweight finisher into a largely defenseless target pinned beneath him for most of the fight.

That kind of statistical gap is rare at the championship level, especially against a reigning titleholder in his prime. It reinforces what many suspected already: Makhachev’s grappling scale and positional awareness travel just fine to 170 pounds.

What it means for Makhachev and welterweight

With the win, Makhachev becomes a two-division UFC champion and matches Anderson Silva’s record of 16 consecutive victories inside the promotion. He also completes one of the most difficult feats in modern MMA: moving up in weight, on short notice, against a fellow champion with a very different style, and making the fight look almost stress-free.

For welterweight, the ripple effects are huge. A division already stacked with contenders like Shavkat Rakhmonov, Belal Muhammad and others now has a new champion who is still arguably the best lightweight on earth. Whether Makhachev chooses to defend both belts or vacate one will determine much of the UFC title picture in 2026.

For Della Maddalena, the loss snaps a long win streak but doesn’t erase his standing. He survived five rounds with minimal damage relative to the stakes, and against most pure strikers in the top five his skill set still looks terrifying. Expect a retooling phase against another elite welterweight rather than a long fall down the rankings.

Co-main: Shevchenko shuts down Zhang’s two-division dream

Classic Shevchenko, modern tweaks

Stylistically, Zhang Weili’s bid to become a simultaneous two-division champion looked like the kind of challenge that might bring out the best in Valentina Shevchenko. That’s exactly what happened. From the opening bell, Shevchenko mixed kicking combinations and clinch entries, forcing Zhang to constantly reset and defend level changes instead of opening up with her usual power flurries.

The flyweight champion repeatedly drew Zhang into the pocket, only to meet her with straight counters, trips, and body locks that ended in mat returns. In the clinch, she punished Zhang with knees and short elbows, always landing something on the break. Once the fight hit the floor, Shevchenko’s top game was smothering and methodical, sliding between half guard and side control while staying one step ahead of Zhang’s explosive bridging attempts.

Why the scorecards were so wide

All three judges went 50–45 for Shevchenko, and it was hard to argue with any of the rounds. Zhang had her moments in the boxing exchanges and showed her trademark toughness, but she was consistently out-landed and out-positioned. The wrestling numbers told a familiar story: Shevchenko secured multiple takedowns in the majority of rounds, passing guard and threatening enough from top to force Zhang into conservative defense rather than high-risk scrambles.

In simple terms, it was a masterclass in risk management. Shevchenko neutralized Zhang’s power, added to her own takedown totals, and never gave the strawweight champion the kind of prolonged pocket exchange she needed to swing momentum.

What’s next at 125 and 115

With another dominant five-round win at flyweight, Shevchenko solidifies an already strong case as the greatest women’s fighter in UFC history. Logical next steps include rematches with Erin Blanchfield or Manon Fiorot, depending on how the promotion wants to structure contenders after this card’s results.

For Zhang, the loss may refocus her on clearing out the rest of the strawweight division rather than chasing a second belt in the near term. She went up in weight, against a bigger and more specialized grappler, and didn’t look out of her depth—she just ran into one of the most complete all-around fighters on the roster.

Main card chaos: Morales, Prates and Saint Denis steal the show

Michael Morales melts Sean Brady

On paper, the matchup between unbeaten prospect Michael Morales and perennial contender Sean Brady was a measuring stick. In practice, it was a launching pad. After a cautious start, Morales found Brady’s chin with a thudding right hand that had the Philadelphian badly hurt. When Brady tried to recover along the fence, Morales swarmed with sharp, straight follow-ups that forced the referee to step in.

The first-round TKO not only preserved Morales’ perfect record but also instantly moved him from “interesting prospect” to bona fide contender. Taking out a top-five welterweight who had previously beaten names like Leon Edwards and Gilbert Burns will do that. Expect Morales to skip several rungs on the ladder for his next booking.

Carlos Prates hands Leon Edwards his first knockout loss

Leon Edwards walked into UFC 322 as the former welterweight champion looking to rebuild toward another title shot. Instead, he walked into the left hand of Carlos Prates. After a competitive opening frame where Edwards mixed takedowns and back control with Prates’ leg kicks, the Brazilian southpaw changed the fight with one perfectly timed straight left down the pipe early in round two.

The shot split Edwards’ guard and sent him crashing to the canvas, giving Prates the kind of signature knockout that sticks in highlight reels for years. For Edwards, it’s the first time he’s been knocked out in the UFC, and it may push him into a reset phase against non-title opposition while Prates moves toward the upper tier of the top 10.

Benoît Saint Denis detonates in 16 seconds

If you blinked, you may have missed the lightweight feature. Beneil Dariush opened with a hard leg kick that briefly off-balanced Benoît Saint Denis, but as Dariush stepped in again, the Frenchman uncorked a massive overhand left that planted the veteran face-first on the canvas. The referee dove in at 0:16 of the opening round, saving Dariush from any extra damage.

The win is the kind of emphatic rebound Saint Denis needed after recent setbacks. Knocking out a respected former title challenger in seconds will put him right back in conversations with names near the very top of 155 pounds, especially if the UFC wants fresh blood for upcoming number-one contender bouts.

Prelims that mattered: Nickal, Blanchfield, Ewing and Kline

Bo Nickal’s head kick changes the narrative

After suffering his first professional loss earlier this year, Bo Nickal needed more than just a win—he needed a performance. He got it against Rodolfo Vieira. Following two competitive rounds that saw both men have success in grappling exchanges, Nickal opened the third with a feint and fired a crushing left high kick that landed flush.

Vieira dropped unconscious, and the referee waved it off instantly. For a fighter widely regarded as a grappling phenom, winning by clean head-kick knockout is a powerful message. It suggests Nickal is evolving into a genuinely well-rounded middleweight threat rather than a one-dimensional wrestler.

Erin Blanchfield gets her revenge

Years after dropping a close split decision to Tracy Cortez in Invicta, Erin Blanchfield finally got her rematch—and this time she left nothing to the judges. After a tough first round on the feet where Cortez’s boxing and timing carried the action, Blanchfield flipped the script in round two with relentless body-lock takedowns and mat returns.

She eventually took Cortez’s back in a scramble and cinched up a rear-naked choke with less than a minute remaining in the round. The tap came quickly. The win keeps Blanchfield right in the thick of the title picture at 125 pounds and shows she can make mid-fight adjustments against high-level opposition.

Ethyn Ewing upsets Malcolm Wellmaker on short notice

Stepping in on roughly two days’ notice against an undefeated knockout artist at Madison Square Garden is the kind of opportunity many fighters dream of and most turn down. Ethyn Ewing not only accepted it, he thrived. Over three rounds he used constant pressure, clean combinations and timely clinch work to blunt Malcolm Wellmaker’s power.

Whenever Wellmaker found success to the body, Ewing answered with flurries upstairs or a momentum-stealing takedown attempt. The final minutes were all Ewing, who secured a late takedown and finished the fight landing knees and punches in close. Judges rewarded his output and composure with a unanimous decision and, likely, a permanent place on UFC matchmakers’ radar.

Fatima Kline’s breakout win over Angela Hill

Angela Hill has long been a gatekeeper to the strawweight rankings and a specialist at making prospects look ordinary. Fatima Kline refused that script. From the opening takedown to the final horn, Kline mixed persistent grappling with physical striking, cutting Hill and keeping her under sustained pressure.

By the end of three rounds, Kline had banked multiple dominant frames, including at least one that several observers saw as a potential 10–8. The unanimous decision over a fighter as durable and experienced as Hill vaults Kline from “promising” into the wider contender conversation at 115 pounds.

Early prelim storylines: chokes, comebacks and callouts

• Kyle Daukaus vs Gerald Meerschaert: In a clash of submission specialists, Daukaus struck first—literally. He hurt Meerschaert on the feet, pounced on a front headlock and transitioned into his trademark D’Arce/brabo choke for the tap in under a minute. It’s the kind of emphatic return that can erase memories of a previous UFC stint.
• Pat Sabatini vs Chepe Mariscal: Sabatini banked all three rounds with disciplined wrestling, tight top control and enough striking to keep Mariscal honest. It wasn’t flashy, but for a featherweight trying to rebuild momentum, a 30–27 sweep over a dangerous opponent is exactly what he needed.
• Baisangur Susurkaev vs Eric McConico: Susurkaev had to navigate early chaos and heavy shots, but his pressure and body work wore McConico down. In the third, he found a perfectly timed right hand that ended the fight instantly and set up a post-fight callout of Bo Nickal—an intriguing future matchup if both keep winning.
• Matheus Camilo vs Viacheslav Borshchev: Borshchev’s kicks and boxing made round one competitive, but as the minutes ticked by, Camilo’s grappling edge emerged. He mixed takedowns with back takes and ride time, convincing all three judges that his control and damage were enough for a clear decision.

Bonuses, crowd moments and outside-the-cage drama

The UFC opted not to award a traditional Fight of the Night, instead handing out four Performance of the Night bonuses to Michael Morales, Carlos Prates, Benoît Saint Denis and Bo Nickal for their eye-catching finishes. Given the quality of the knockouts and the stakes of the matchups, it was hard to argue with any of those choices.

Two fighters—Sean Brady and Rodolfo Vieira—were transported to a local hospital for precautionary scans after their knockouts. Both were reported to be in stable condition afterwards, with no immediate serious issues disclosed, but it underscored just how violent those finishes were.

Outside the cage, a brawl involving Dillon Danis in the crowd briefly threatened to overshadow the early portion of the card. Security and New York police restored order, and Danis was ultimately removed from the arena. In the post-fight press conference, Dana White was unequivocal about his future with the promotion, stating that Danis would not be welcome at UFC events going forward.

What’s next after UFC 322?

The matchmaking picture after a card this big is always fluid, but a few realistic next steps stand out.

• Islam Makhachev: The obvious next move is a true welterweight title defense against a top contender such as Shavkat Rakhmonov or Belal Muhammad. If the UFC wants to lean into star power, a champion-versus-champion showdown with featherweight titleholder Ilia Topuria could also be in play, but that likely requires some negotiation around weight and timing.
• Jack Della Maddalena: A rebound fight against another elite striker—think Vicente Luque or Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson—would keep him near the top while offering a stylistic showcase instead of another wrestling-heavy test.
• Valentina Shevchenko: If she stays at flyweight, a title defense against Erin Blanchfield now carries a richer storyline following Blanchfield’s revenge win over Cortez. Manon Fiorot also remains in the mix if the UFC prefers a fresh matchup.
• Zhang Weili: Back at 115 pounds, a defense against the next strawweight contender—whether a rematch with Yan Xiaonan or a bout with Amanda Lemos or another surging challenger—feels more likely than another jump to flyweight right away.
• Michael Morales and Carlos Prates: Both men should be looking at top-10 opponents next. Morales in particular feels one big win away from a title eliminator at 170.
• Benoît Saint Denis: With a 16-second knockout of Dariush on his résumé, Saint Denis can credibly call for a fight with someone hovering around a title shot—names like Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira or another top-five lightweight depending on availability.
• Bo Nickal, Fatima Kline and Ethyn Ewing: All three earned the right to another step up in competition. Nickal is ready for a ranked middleweight, Kline belongs in the lower half of the strawweight top 15, and Ewing should get a full-camp matchup with a name featherweight after his heroics on short notice.

FAQ: UFC 322 results and fallout

Who won the UFC 322 main event?

Islam Makhachev defeated Jack Della Maddalena by unanimous decision (50–45 on all three cards) in the UFC 322 main event, dominating with takedowns, control and top pressure over five rounds to claim the welterweight title.

How many belts does Islam Makhachev hold after UFC 322?

With his win at UFC 322, Makhachev became a two-division UFC champion, adding the welterweight belt to the lightweight title he already held. He also extended his UFC winning streak to 16 fights, tying the promotion’s all-time record.

What were the most important UFC 322 results besides the main event?

Outside the headliner, the key UFC 322 results were Valentina Shevchenko’s five-round domination of Zhang Weili in the co-main, Michael Morales’ first-round TKO of Sean Brady, Carlos Prates’ knockout of Leon Edwards, Benoît Saint Denis’ 16-second KO of Beneil Dariush, and Bo Nickal’s head-kick knockout of Rodolfo Vieira.

Who got bonuses at UFC 322?

The UFC did not award a Fight of the Night bonus at UFC 322. Instead, four Performance of the Night bonuses went to Michael Morales, Carlos Prates, Benoît Saint Denis and Bo Nickal for their highlight-reel finishes.

Where did UFC 322 take place?

UFC 322 was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, the UFC’s traditional November stop in “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” in front of a reported crowd of just over twenty thousand fans.