The UFC teased fans with some big news on Thursday morning, and UFC CEO Dana White delivered with one of his signature Instagram Live videos.
When the Octagon hits New York for the UFC 322 card at the world-famous Madison Square Garden, Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev will face off in a highly anticipated welterweight title fight.
Additionally, the co-main event will play host to a clash of champions as Zhang Weili looks to successfully move up to 125 and dethrone women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.
And last, but certainly not least, the UFC 321 card, which will be headlined by a heavyweight title fight between Tom Aspinall and Ciryl Gane, will play host to a vacant women’s strawweight title fight between Mackenzie Dern and Virna Jandiroba.
Fans had been anxiously awaiting word on both the JDM vs Makhachev fight and the Shevchenko vs. Weili fight, with expectations being that JDM vs. Makhachev would headline the UFC’s MSG card in November.
In the case of the Shevchenko vs. Weili fight, all signs pointed to the two facing off, with Zhang Weili recently revealing that she had already started training for the bout.
Updates UFC 321 & 322 cards Following Dana White’s Announcement
Following Dana White’s big announcement on Thursday, the updated UFC 321 & UFC 322 cards can be seen below.
In the case of UFC 321, the UFC still has a few more fights to book before finalizing the official bout order. In the case of the UFC 322 card, expect plenty more fights to be announced in the weeks to come.
UFC 321 – Oct. 25 (Abu Dhabi)
- (C) Tom Aspinall vs. Ciryl Gane
- Virna Jandiroba vs. Mackenzie Dern
- Alexander Volkov vs. Jailton Almeida
- Umar Nurmagomedov vs. Mario Bautista
- Aleksandar Rakic vs. Azamat Murzakanov
- Azat Maksum vs. Mitch Raposo
- Chris Barnett vs. Hamdy Abdelwahab
- Ikram Aliskerov vs. Jun Yong Park
- Jaqueline Amorim vs. Mizuki Inoue
- Abdul-Kareem Al-Selwady vs. Matheus Camilo
UFC 322 – Nov. 15 (New York)
- (C) Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev
- Valentina Shevchenko vs. Weili Zhang
- Leon Edwards vs. Carlos Prates
- Erin Blanchfield vs. Tracy Cortez
Jack Della Maddalena’s Coach Drops Bold Prediction
Prior to the UFC announcing that the Makhachev-JDM fight would headline the UFC’s Madison Square Garden card, the champ’s coach, Ben Vickers, dropped a bold prediction on Submission Radio.
As he explained, when the two share the Octagon, he believes that Makhachev’s chin won’t be able to hold up the same way Belal Muhammad‘s did.
When asked whether he still stands by his previous prediction, that JDM will knock Makhachev out, Vickers explained:
“Yeah. Yeah I do. I just don’t think Islam has the chin that Belal has. We know for a fact that if Jack clips someone clean on the chin, they can go over. So, it could happen in the first minute, it could happen in the 24th minute… Jack likes long fights, he likes to be in there, but obviously, we’re not getting paid for overtime so if the opportunity arises, we’re happy to take it.”
While Della Maddalena is already the welterweight champion of the world, adding Makhachev’s name to his resume will likely see him skyrocket up the pound-for-pound rankings.
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