Matches to Make After UFC 322

/organizations/Ultimate-Fighting-Championship-UFC-2">Ultimate Fighting Championship once again returned to New York City with a stacked pay-per-view card. The UFC 322 main event saw welterweight titleholder Jack Della Maddalena face former lightweight king Islam Makhachev in a highly anticipated clash of champions. The 14-fight card also featured a women’s flyweight championship fight, plus fights with welterweight and lightweight contenders.

Here are five matches to make for the main card winners of UFC 322.

Islam Makhachev vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov

Makhachev (28-1) picked up his second UFC championship by putting a beating on Della Maddalena (18-3) over five rounds. Welterweight is an embarrassment of riches at the top of the division currently. From fighters who picked up wins tonight, such as Michael Morales and Carlos Prates, to promising contenders like Ian Garry, there’s no shortage of fresh challengers for the Dagestani fighter. Yet the fight I want to see next for the champ is Rakhmonov. The Kazakhstani fighter is undefeated at 19-0 and is long overdue for a shot at the belt after he was much better than Garry in their 2024 fight. I’d love to see how Makhachev deals with a larger grappler in Rakhmonov and there are plenty of great fights to let the rest of the division sort itself out in the interim.

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Natalia Silva

Shevchenko showed Weili Zhang why weight classes exist as she completely dominated the former strawweight titleholder. Shevchenko retained her 125-pound championship with ease, and she’ll face a proper flyweight next. While Erin Blanchfield looked good tonight in submitting Tracy Cortez with a rear-naked choke, her recent loss to Manon Fiorot dampens her argument for a title shot. Instead, I’d like to see Brazil’s Silva fight Shevchenko (26-4-1) next. Silva (19-5-1) is on a seven-fight win streak and is coming off wins over Alexa Grasso, Jessica Andrade and Viviane Araujo. Just 28, Silva is the younger fighter and presents a fresh challenge.

Think you know the UFC backwards and forwards? Place your bets on the biggest fights at Stake.

Michael Morales vs. Kamaru Usman

Morales wiped out Sean Brady's recent win streak in under a round. The sharp striking of Morales (19-0) constantly hurt his foe and led to a quick TKO win in the 26-year-old's biggest fight of his career. The undefeated Ecuadorian fighter is on an impressive streak, with wins over Gilbert Burns and Neil Magny on his résumé, but a win over a former champion would make him ready for a title shot. Let’s have a passing of the torch fight with Usman, who can play spoiler and earn another shot at the belt for himself with an upset. It’s a great title eliminator, as Usman (21-4) recently showed he's still a threat with a one-sided decision win over Joaquin Buckley.

Carlos Prates vs. Belal Muhammad

Prates made a major statement on the pay-per-view card with a vicious knockout of former champion Leon Edwards. Muhammad fights next weekend against Ian Garry, who recently won a decision over the Brazilian earlier this year, and win or lose, I’d like to the former champion fight Prates (23-7) next. The hard-hitting Brazilian is still a few wins away from a title shot in a division that is a bit backed up due to the unexpected entrance of Makhachev, so a victory over another former titleholder would accelerate that process. Meanwhile, Muhammad is best used for testing contenders and if they’re truly elite at this stage as another title shot for “Remember the Name” seems unlikely.

Related » UFC 322 Round-by-Round Scoring

Benoit St. Denis vs. Rafael Fiziev

St. Denis needed just 16 seconds to knockout Beneil Dariush. Now 16-3 as a pro, “God of War” has now put together three straight finishes. There’s a lot of fun fights for St. Denis, and I’d love to see him go toe-to-toe with Fiziev next. Both men always bring the action, and the winner would be setup nicely for another step up to a higher level of opponent. Let’s see which of the two hard-hitting lightweights is a real contender going forward.