UFC 322 fight week continues. Saturday night following the anticipated Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn rematch inside Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, MMA will take center stage inside the United States.
This week finds Dana White and company trekking to The Big Apple of New York City and The World’s Most Famous Arena, Madison Square Garden for the penultimate pay-per-view of this year. Including Saturday night’s card, there are only four shows remaining on the UFC’s 2025 schedule.
Live coverage commences from Madison Square Garden at 6 pm ET/ 3 pm PT Saturday evening with the UFC 322 prelims. The early prelims will be seen via streaming video on ESPN+ and UFC Fight Pass inside the United States. If you’re watching the early prelims of this event via traditional television, FX will be carrying them live.
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Late prelims are seen at 8 pm ET/ 5 pm PT on ESPNNEWS and ESPN+ stateside before the evening concludes with a five-fight main card on ESPN+ pay-per-view at 10 pm ET/ 7 pm PT. Barring any late changes to the bout order, the final version of UFC 322 will feature a slate of 14 MMA fights and you can bet on armored mma.
UFC 322 Main Event: UFC Welterweight Championship: [C] Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev
At the top of the bill on Saturday night, welterweight supremacy will be on the line in the UFC 322 main event. Current UFC Welterweight Champion Jack Della Maddalena (18-2 MMA, 8-0 UFC) puts his belt on the line for the first time against former UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC.) This main event is an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round to close out the show.
Jack Della Maddalena comes into UFC 322 on Saturday night having posted a record of 5-0 in his last five fights as part of an ongoing 18-fight winning streak. Back on the night of May 10 in UFC 315 in Montreal, he unseated Belal Muhammad (24-4, 1 NC MMA) as UFC Welterweight Champion with a unanimous decision victory after 25 minutes of action.
Saturday’s fight will serve as the initial defense of the title for Della Maddalena and his camp. He’s worked hard throughout his career to get to where he is currently, but in the meantime, there’s a man across the way intent on making his reign as welterweight champion end late Saturday night.
Islam Makhachev moves up from 155 for the UFC 322 main event this weekend. He’s sporting a 5-0 record of his own in the last five bouts and has won 15 fights in a row ahead of UFC 322 on Saturday.
Most recently, he made his fourth and last defense of the UFC Lightweight Championship with a first-round submission by way of D’arce choke with 55 seconds remaining on the clock on Jan. 18 in Anaheim during UFC 311’s main event.
If you were tasked with coming up with a list of the best fights of the year in about a month from now, this main event could certainly wind up at or near the top. Who emerges as the victor?
UFC 322 Co-Main Event: UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship: [C] Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili
Immediately beforehand, the co-main event of the evening takes place in the women’s flyweight division. Championship action serves as the focus of the co-headlining fight when incumbent champion Valentina Shevchenko (25-4-1 MMA, 14-3-1 UFC) squares off against former UFC Strawweight Champion Zhang Weili (26-3 MMA, 10-2 UFC) in the latter’s 30th career MMA fight.
This contest, too, is an advertised maximum of five rounds at five minutes per round. Shevchenko will be making the walk this weekend having gone 3-1-1 in her last five fights. At the moment, she’s unbeaten in her last three fights.
Back on May 10 during UFC 315 in Quebec, she defended her title with a unanimous decision win over Manon Fiorot (13-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in the evening’s co-main event. Valentina Shevchenko has had a stranglehold on the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship.
Each of her last 12 fights have had the strawweight title on the line, with a 10-1-1 record in those fights. She’s familiar with the stakes being put in front of her. Will the 13th consecutive title fight be a lucky 25 minutes (or less) of action for Shevchenko once the weekend rolls around?
Meanwhile, Zhang Weili moves up from flyweight for this co-main event on Saturday posting a record of 5-0 in her last five appearances dating back to June of 2022. Most recently, she made her last defense of the UFC Strawweight Championship with a unanimous decision against Tatiana Suarez (11-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in Australia.
This will be one of Zhang’s biggest challenges in her career. Can she stop Shevchenko from an 11th win in a UFC title fight?
UFC 322: No. 2 Contender Sean Brady vs. No. 8 Contender Michael Morales
Also on UFC 322’s main card, you’ll see a welterweight battle matching No. 2 contender Sean Brady (18-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) with No. 8 contender Michael Morales (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC.) This is a three-round fight at five minutes per round and will have ramifications on the future of the welterweight championship picture beyond Saturday night regardless of the winner.
Brady makes the walk in New York City this weekend on the strength of a 4-1 record in his last five MMA fights dating back to 2021. At the moment, he’s won two fights in a row.
In March, he scored a fourth-round submission by guillotine choke versus Leon Edwards (22-5, 1 NC MMA, 14-4, 1 NC UFC) in the UFC London main event. This was Brady’s second guillotine choke submission in a row across all competitions, and it also netted him a $50,000 (USD) bonus for the Performance of the Night Award after the show.
Will Brady take an all-important step toward a shot at the UFC Welterweight Championship? Tune in and find out.
In the other corner, Michael Morales has yet to lose so far in his career. On May 17, he stopped Gilbert Burns (22-9 MMA, 15-9 UFC) inside the first round at the UFC Apex facility in Enterprise, NV.
Although Michael Morales sits at No. 8 at welterweight, a seventh consecutive win under the UFC banner would do wonders for him. Can he get into the title picture on Saturday?
Rest of the Card
The UFC 322 main card is rounded out by a welterweight fight between No. 4 contender Leon Edwards (22-5, 1 NC MMA, 14-4, 1 NC UFC) and No. 8 contender Carlos Prates (22-7 MMA, 5-1 UFC) and a lightweight bout matching No. 9 contender Beneil Dariush (23-6-1 MMA, 17-6-1 UFC) with No. 13 contender Benoit Saint-Denis (15-3, 1 NC MMA, 7-3 UFC.)
Which main card fights are you looking forward to on UFC 322? Let us know in the comments.
