UFC 322 blew the roof off Madison Square Garden this past weekend (Sat., Nov. 15, 2025) in New York City, leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Zhang Weili, who was shutout
by current women’s Flyweight champion, Valentina Shevchenko, in the co-main event of the evening (re-live that here).
And Leon Edwards, who suffered his third straight defeat after getting iced by Carlos Prates in the second round of their Welterweight fight (see it again here). And let’s not forget about Sean Brady, who saw title shot dreams go up in smoke after he was clobbered by Michael Morales in the first round (highlights here). But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Coming into his first-ever title defense, Maddalena was riding high after shutting out Belal Muhammad to win the strap. He also had a golden opportunity to score an even bigger win by defeating UFC’s former Lightweight champion and pound-for-pound great, Islam Makhachev. It was a difficult assignment for a first-ever title defense, which would have seemingly allowed the Australian to write his own ticket moving forward.
Unfortunately for “JDM,” things went downhill in a hurry.
From the jump, Makhachev took down the Australian champion with ease and controlled him for the majority of the first round. And that pattern held strong throughout the next four rounds, with the former 155-pound kingpin taking down his foe at-will and keeping him there. While many fight fans didn’t appreciate Makhachevs’s determination to keep the fight on the ground, it was an effective strategy that ultimately scored him his second title in as many divisions, winning a clear-cut unanimous decision once the dust settled.
For Della Maddalena, it was a disappointing defeat because his output was simply non-existent. In the later rounds, “JDM” was grimacing in pain. Since he didn’t get a post-fight interview, we didn’t get much information regarding any potential injury. That said, Makhachev was peppering his lead leg all night, and it didn’t look like fun.
Nevertheless, Maddalena will now go home and have to live with the crushing defeat for some time after winning his previous 18 bouts.
As far as what could be next for him, perhaps a fight against Sean Brady is in order. The two men were already on a collision course for a big title fight had they both proven victorious last night. But, since “JDM” coughed up his title to Makhachev and Brady got clobbered by Morales in the first round, their potential showdown will simply be to see who can get back on track.
And that’s how easily (and quickly) a fighter’s fortune can change in this sport.
