A promising young Australian killer is back.
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight Cody Haddon finally makes his return at UFC 322 this weekend (Sat., Nov. 15, 2025), taking on red-hot prospect Malcolm Wellmaker inside the iconic Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Haddon made his UFC debut last October — just one month after earning his contract on Contender Series — and scored a unanimous decision win over Dan Argueta in a fun, underrated scrap.
And then, poof! Haddon vanished.
He briefly
resurfaced when he was booked to face Aleksandre Topuria at UFC 312, but was forced to withdraw with an injury — the beginning of a frustrating stretch that kept him out of action for more than a year.
Haddon told UFC.com he fractured his foot a few weeks before UFC 312 after kicking a training partner’s knee, sidelining him in a boot for eight weeks. Then, literally the day he was cleared to train again, he suffered a partially torn lateral collateral ligament while rolling with a teammate.
At just 27 years old, back-to-back injuries had him questioning everything.
“It makes you just start questioning ‘is my body even capable of doing this shit?’ because every single time there seems to be some problem that happens,” Haddon told UFC.com “I started comparing myself to other people, like, ‘What am I doing that they aren’t doing?’ or ‘Am I doing something wrong? Am I cutting corners?…It’s quite f—king depressing, bro, because you put everything into it and your body goes ‘F you!’”
Now fully healthy, Haddon — one of Australia’s brightest young prospects — returns to face Wellmaker, who has had a breakout rookie year with back-to-back knockout wins in devastating fashion (watch highlights).
Obviously, the spotlight will be on Wellmaker, and rightfully so. But Haddon is a dangerous, overlooked fighter who could very well steal all of Wellmaker’s shine.
Keep your eyes peeled for this one — it’s a banger waiting to happen.
Checkout who else is fighting on UFC 322 right here.
