Big fights to headline annual UFC event in New York
Two UFC super fights will be the main event of the company’s annual pay-per-view event in New York.
Former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev will seek to win a second title against current welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322 on November 15 at Madison Square Garden. This was announced by UFC CEO Dana White on Thursday.
In the co-main event, former strawweight champion Zhang Weili will move up to flyweight to challenge Valentina Shevchenko.
Makhachev (27-1) vacated the UFC 155-pound title earlier this year anticipating this move to welterweight. Zhang (26-3) vacated her 115-pound championship to challenge at 125 pounds.
Makhachev defended his lightweight title four times before announcing his move to welterweight. He will attempt to achieve something that his retired and undefeated mentor, Khabib Nurmagomedov, never did during his Hall of Fame career: become a two-division champion.
Della Maddalena (18-2), from Perth, Australia, hasn’t lost since suffering consecutive defeats to start his professional career in 2016. He won the UFC title by defeating Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision in May.
Zhang is coming off a title defense against Tatiana Suarez in February. Shevchenko, 37, is the most dominant flyweight in UFC history. She is a two-time champion with eight title defenses across two reigns.
White also announced a welterweight clash on the main card between former champion Leon Edwards (22-5) and promising Brazilian contender Carlos Prates (22-7).
