UFC 322: Della Maddalena v Makhachev Predictions

Zhang Weili is on the same mission in the co-main event as she takes on flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko in an epic clash of the two best pound-for-pound female fighters in the world.

Four of the top welterweight contenders will look to make their case to fight the winner of the main event down the line. Sean Brady and Michael Morales meet in the featured bout, while former champion Leon Edwards collides with Carlos Prates.

Plus, top-15 lightweights Beneil Dariush and Benoit Saint Denis do battle.

MAIN CARD:

When: Sunday, November 16, 5 AM SAST:

Jack Della Maddalena (3.00) v Islam Makhachev (1.38) (Welterweight Championship)

Only 10 fighters in UFC history have achieved the legendary feat of winning a championship in two different weight classes. Only the truly extraordinary have ascended to this ultimate sphere of mixed martial arts excellence.

Makhachev is up there as one of the greatest of his generation and vacated the lightweight title in May after a divisional record four successful defences in his pursuit of a second strap.

The Dagestani ace had long expressed his desire to become a double champion, and Della Maddalena’s welterweight title-winning upset of Makhachev’s teammate Belal Muhammad at UFC 315 opened the door for him to take his shot.

Something has to give in this battle between two fighters who have forgotten how to lose. 

A great example of believing in oneself, Della Maddalena lost his first two professional fights and has since racked up 18 wins in a row. 

Unbeaten since 2016, the Australian is a perfect 8-0 inside the Octagon. He’s one of the best, yet still underrated, boxers in the UFC and will look to keep the fight on the feet where he has superior power and technique. He’s a finisher of note with 14 stoppage wins, including a dozen knockouts.

The 29-year-old is as tough as he is dangerous, as he showed when he soldiered on and knocked out Gilbert Burns despite having a broken arm last March.  

The matchup against Muhammad in May was the ideal preparation for Makhachev, as they’re both powerful wrestlers/grapplers. Della Maddalena will take confidence from the fact that he managed to stuff six of Muhammad’s nine takedown attempts, and even though he knows Makhachev is at the very elite level, he feels his size advantage will help him stay standing, or get back to his feet fast.

That, and from the invaluable knowledge that’s been imparted to him by his teammate, featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski, who twice fought Makhachev for the 155-pound belt in 2023 and gave him his toughest fight to date in the first meeting.

Makhachev has only tasted defeat once in his 28-fight pro career, back in 2015 when he was knocked out by Adriano Martins. He’s gone on to dominate the division, winning 15 straight, and climbed to No. 1 in the pound-for-pound rankings, where he remained until he got bumped to No. 2 by Ilia Topuria, who became the latest two-division champion with a knockout win over Charles Oliveira in June.  

A monster wrestler, a sambo savant with killer instinct and ever-improving striking, the 34-year-old boasts five knockouts and 13 submissions and has finished his last three foes. He knocked out Volkanovski with a head kick and tapped out both Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano with his signature D’Arce choke.

Makhachev is a massive favourite and deservedly so, given his dominance and superior strength of schedule. However, it remains to be seen how he makes the step up from 155 pounds to 170 pounds for the first time. Will he be able to overpower the bigger Della Maddalena as he did lightweights, and how will his stamina be affected?

Those question marks, coupled with Della Maddalena’s slick boxing and heavy hands, make the champion an underdog worth backing.

Prediction: Della Maddalena by TKO.

Best Bet: Della Maddalena at 3.00.

Alternative Bet: Della Maddalena by KO/TKO/DQ at 5.00.

Valentina Shevchenko (1.75) v Zhang Weili (2.05) (Flyweight Championship)

The co-main event is as big as it gets as the two best pound-for-pound female fighters in the world battle for ultimate supremacy.

After cleaning out the strawweight division with a statement win over the previously unbeaten Tatiana Suarez in February, Zhang (26-3) is moving on to bigger and better things and has Shevchenko’s flyweight crown in her sights.

If she can beat the Kyrgyzstan assassin, she’ll become just the second female fighter to win a belt in two different weight classes after the GOAT Amanda Nunes, who held the bantamweight and featherweight titles.

“Magnum” is a marauder with deadly explosiveness and wicked power, which has earned her 11 knockouts, including a highlight-reel spinning backfist KO of former champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk.

She is more than capable on the ground as well, as her eight submission wins underscore, though her last three wins – over Amanda Lemos, Yan Xiaonan and Suarez – were all by decision.

Shevchenko (25-4-1) made the first defence of her second reign as 125-pound queen against Manon Fiorot in May, snapping the French phenom’s undefeated run in the UFC.

A 17-time Muay Thai world champion, “Bullet” is a sniper on the feet. If ‘The Ballerina’ movie that’s part of the ‘John Wick’ world was based on a real person, it would be the fleet-footed and laser-accurate Shevchenko, who’s not only the greatest flyweight ever, but also the current pound-for-pound queen.

One of her eight knockouts almost saw her decapitate poor Jessica Eye back in 2019, while she has almost as many submission victories with seven, showing what a complete mixed martial artist she’s evolved into over the course of her legendary UFC career.

She also won on the scorecards in her last three fights, outpointing Taila Santos, Alexa Grasso and Fiorot, and it’s likely that she and Zhang will go the full five rounds.  

In what’s a very evenly-matched super fight, the bigger Shevchenko has the strength and a four-inch reach advantage, while Zhang is more explosive and stands to have a speed advantage. Ultimately, I’m siding with Shevchenko due to her combination of size and superior championship experience.

Prediction: Shevchenko by decision.

Best Bet: Shevchenko by decision at 2.40.

Alternative Bet: Shevchenko at 1.75.

Sean Brady (1.70) v Michael Morales (2.10) Welterweight)

Elite welterweights with impeccable records look to punch their ticket to a title shot in the featured bout.

Second-ranked Brady is 18-1, with his only defeat coming at the hands of former champion Belal Muhammad in October 2022. He’s bounced back strongly from that setback with wins over Kelvin Gastelum, former title challenger Gilbert Burns, and most recently, ex-champion Leon Edwards.

His March mauling of Edwards was his best performance to date, in his biggest fight yet, as he dominated the Brit in his background and mercifully tapped him out with a guillotine choke in the fourth round. It was his sixth career win by submission, while he also has three knockouts.

As these numbers suggest, the American is a grinder rather than a destroyer. He’s a strong, tireless wrestler who applies constant pressure on his opponent and has a very strong top game, which allows him to pin his foe to the mat for extended periods.

Eighth-ranked Morales is the polar opposite. He’s a lethal striker with a mind-blowing bag of tricks. Born in Ecuador, he’s an eraser on the feet and boasts a flawless record of 18-0 with 13 knockouts and one submission.

He’s 6-0 in the UFC, with four of those wins coming by knockout, including his last two, where he made significant step-ups in competition with aplomb by stopping veteran Neil Magny last August and Burns in May (both in the first round).

In a classic clash of styles, Brady should be able to weather the storm in the opening round and control the fight with his wrestling from thereon out to preserve his place in the rankings and bounce Morales from the ranks of the unbeaten.  

Prediction: Brady by decision.

Best Bet: Brady at 1.70.

Alternative Bet: Brady by decision at 2.75.

Leon Edwards (2.55) v Carlos Prates (1.50) (Welterweight)

This is a pivotal fight in the careers of these top-10 welterweights, for different reasons.

Edwards (22-5), who ruled over the division from 2022 to mid-2024 when he was dethroned by Muhammad, has his back against the wall after his above-mentioned loss to Brady in March. In a two-fight slump, “Rocky” has to respond in a big way if he wants to protect his No. 4 ranking and start another run towards the belt.

Ninth-ranked Prates (22-7), meanwhile, is a predator on the prowl. The rising star has won five of his six fights inside the Octagon, all by knockout, including a KO of the Year contender against Geoff Neal in August. A win over a former champion in Edwards would be the biggest of his career and put his name in the title conversation.

I don’t think Edwards is done yet. He can be a slow starter, but with Prates set to push the action, I think that’ll benefit the Brit and switch him on from the get-go. He’s very intelligent and defensively responsible in the stand-up department, so I don’t see him getting knocked out.

Instead, I expect Edwards to be very technical on the feet and mix in takedowns to deliver as the underdog.

Prediction: Edwards by decision.

Best Bet: Edwards by decision at 3.75.

Alternative Bet: Edwards at 2.55.

Beneil Dariush (2.55) v Benoit Saint Denis (1.50) (Lightweight)

Top-15 lightweights will bring the violence in the main card opener.

Just when it looked like Dariush (23-6-1) was washed up, following knockout losses to former champion Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan, he turned things around with a decision win over Renato Moicano in June.

Ninth-ranked “Benny” is a gamer and solid in all areas. He’ll never quit on himself, but at 36 years of age, he’s not as durable as he was in his prime.

As dangerous as they come, No. 13-ranked Saint Denis (15-3) lives up to his “God of War” moniker with a 100% finish rate (four knockouts and 11 submissions).

The former French Army Special Forces paratrooper has scored back-to-back submission wins in 2025, tapping out Kyle Prepolec with an arm triangle choke in May and Mauricio Ruffy via face crank in September to end the Brazilian’s seven-fight win streak.

Saint Denis is like a dog with a bone and I don’t see Dariush surviving the full 15 minutes.

Prediction: Saint Denis by stoppage.

Best Bet: Saint Denis by KO/TKO/Submission/DQ at 1.90.

Alternative Bets: Saint Denis by KO/TKO/DQ at 2.50 or by submission at 6.50.