UFC 322 went down last night (Sat., Nov. 15) inside Madison Square Garden in New York City, which featured a Welterweight title fight that saw Islam Makhachev dominate Jack Della Maddalena to become the
new champion at 170 pounds (recap). In the co-main event, Valentina Shevchenko defeated former women’s Strawweight title holder, Zhang Weili, to retain her Flyweight strap (recap here). Plus, Carlos Prates handed Leon Edwards his third straight defeat, knocking him out in the second round (highlights).
Winner: Islam Makhachev
Who He Should Face Next: Shavkat Rakhmonov (not Kamaru Usman)
I know Makhachev has his sights set on fighting Usman in his first title defense, and I get it. After all, Usman has the “name value” and is the former longtime champion at 170 pounds. That said, he is just 1-3 in his last four fights, so we have to be careful when it comes to say he “deserves” the title fight. That distinction goes to Rakhmonov, who is currently undefeated at 19-0, which includes going a perfect 7-0 inside the Octagon. He is coming off a big win over Ian Machado Garry, which was good enough to catapult him all the way up to the No. 3 spot. When you take into consideration that Sean Brady (No. 2) laid an egg last night, and “Nomad” is sitting pretty. That said, just because he “should” fight Rakhmonov, doesn’t mean he will.
Winner: Valentina Shevchenko
Who She Should Face Next: Natalia Silva
After Shevchenko thoroughly dominated Zhang Weili, potentially sending her packing back down to Strawweight, “Bullet” further solidified her place as one of the absolute best female MMA fighters in the history of the sport. She also set up a fight against Silva, who is the rightful next contender to her title. Silva is currently ranked No. 2 and is on a 13-fight win streak. She is also a perfect 7-0 under the UFC banner with her last win coming against former division champion, Alexa Grasso. This one is a no-brainer, Silva has more than earned her shot.
Winner: Michael Morales
Who He Should Face Next: Belal vs Garry winner
Morales made a big statement last night by absolutely throttling the No. 2 ranked Welterweight in the game, Brady, with relative ease in the very first round, all while improving to 19-0, 7-0 UFC (highlights). In doing so he put himself in the championship conversation, though he will likely need one more win to get there. I wouldn’t mind seeing him face off against the winner of the upcoming bout between former champion, Belal Muhammad and Ian Garry, which is set to go down next weekend. Either one of those fights would be intriguing because Belal is a former champion and Garry is a surging contender with title aspirations of his own. Either way it’s a win-win situation for Morales because it gets him closer to a championship fight with a victory.
Winner: Carlos Prates
Who He Should Face Next: Kamaru Usman
Prates also has his sights set on a title fight, but the division is getting pretty loaded at the top so he, too, will have to likely prove himself once more. And that should come against Usman, who thinks is in line for a shot at the title. “The Nigerian Nightmare” is currently sitting in the No. 5 position but he needs to prove himself once more before he gets thrown into the mix. If Prates can take out another former champion in Usman then a title fight could be next…depending on how Morales does in his next fight, of course.
Winner: Benoit Saint Denis
Who He Should Face Next: Mateusz Gamrot
Kicking off the main card in explosive fashion was Saint Denis, who starched Beneil Dariush in just 16 seconds (see it again here). That should be good enough to put him into the Top 10, and give him bigger fights moving forward. I wouldn’t mind seeing him face off against Gamrot next, who is currently sitting in the No. 8 spot at 155 pounds. Gamrot is just 1-2 in his last three UFC fights and is coming off a tough submission defeat at the hands of Charles Oliveira, but there aren’t a lot of top ranked foes that make sense for Saint Denis because they have their own paths to bigger fights lined up. This one just sounds like a lot of fun.
For complete UFC 322 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.
