NEW YORK — Islam Makhachev needed a unanimous decision to defeat Jack Della Maddalena to win the 170-pound championship and tie the UFC record of 16 straight victories to cap a pair of lackluster title fights on Saturday night at UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden.
Makhachev — never seriously tested in the lopsided bout — proved to be the better grappler and used repeated takedowns to neutralize Della Maddalena’s offense and go on to win 50-45 on all three cards.
Makhachev (28-1) surrendered his lightweight title earlier this year after four straight title defenses so he could move up and go for gold in another weight class. He’s matched UFC Hall of Fame fighter Anderson Silva for the record of 16 straight wins.
Makhachev joined a short list in UFC history — the company just celebrated the Nov. 12, 1993, anniversary date of its first card — of male fighters who won championships in two weight classes. The others: Henry Cejudo, Daniel Cormier, Randy Couture, Georges St-Pierre, B.J. Penn, Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, Alex Pereira and Ilia Topuria.
“This is the dream. All my life I wanted two belts,” Makhachev said. “The belt, so heavy and I like it.”
Della Maddalena — who ended an 18-fight career win streak, that featured 14 finishes — walked out of the cage without conducting the traditional post-fight interview and lost his first title defense since he beat Belal Muhammad via unanimous decision in May to wrest away the welterweight championship.
Shevchenko defends her 125-pound crown
Valentina Shevchenko successfully defended her 125-pound championship via unanimous decision in a methodical five-round bout against Zhang Weili. In a matchup between who are widely considered the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the women’s division, the action never got going and both fighters spent more time clutching each other on the canvas than putting a serious scare into the other.
Zhang, a former two-time strawweight champion and the first Chinese champion in UFC history, vacated her 115-pound title last month so she could get her shot at Shevchenko. The fighters were booed between rounds, and the end of the fifth round was met with a muted reaction — a packed crowd that included acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba and actor Ice-T — for a dud championship bout positioned as the co-main event.
Zhang (26-4) failed to join Amanda Nunes as the only UFC women to become champions in two weight classes. She also declined to say if she would return to 115 pounds.
The 37-year-old Shevchenko (26-4-1) won her 11th overall title fight once she swept the scorecards 50-45 against Zhang. She also became the first female UFC fighter to record 60 career takedowns — and the fight indeed ended with Zhang on her back.
The show went on without an appearance from President Donald Trump, a close friend of UFC CEO Dana White, who normally has a cageside seat for the tri-state area’s biggest events.
Trump was on Makhachev’s mind moments after he won the championship fight. Makhachev said he wanted to make his first title defense next year when UFC is scheduled to hold a card at the White House.
“Donald Trump, let’s go,” Makhachev said. “Open the White House. I’m coming.”
UFC fans at the Garden, though, did get a big fight well ahead of the main event when a massive brawl broke out near one of the tunnels used for fight entrances and spilled through the stands and near press row.
The stir — which involved MMA fighter Dillon Danis — had the crowd howling and caused a short delay to the start of the pay-per-view card as police and security tried to bust up the melee.
Fists continued to fly at a furious pace once UFC 322 truly got underway.
Beneil Dariush (in 16 seconds of the first round), Carlos Prates (at 1:28 of the second round), and Michael Morales (at 3:27 of the first round) each won with devastating knockouts to open the card.
“I am regretting not going to ufc at msg now,” New York Knicks star Jalen Brunson posted on social media.
Ewing wins big at MSG
Ethyn Ewing needed only two days’ notice — and short rest — to win his first fight for UFC.
Ewing won his UFC debut — just eight days after his last professional fight — via unanimous decision over Malcolm Wellmaker on an undercard bout Saturday night at UFC 322.
Ewing got the call on Thursday morning after Cody Haddon dropped out of the fight with an injury that he was needed in a pinch. One problem, Ewing missed that call — and many, many more trying to wake the MMA fighter.
He joked he slept through about 40 missed calls before finally getting around to answering the phone — and he answered the bell at the Garden, where former New York Knicks’ great Patrick Ewing’s No. 33 banner hangs in the rafters.
The 27-year-old Ewing won a Nov. 7 fight as part of the A1 Combat 32 promotion and has won nine straight MMA fights overall.
He wouldn’t mind sticking around the big time — and called out White to try and make it happen.
“I have to say, that was an amazing performance,” Ewing said inside the cage. “Mr. White?”
Ewing swept the scorecards in the 145-pound bout, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28.