This Saturday (15), New York hosted the best of mixed martial arts with UFC 322, which includes two title fights in its main fights, welterweight and flyweight.
Without leaving any space for their competitors to respond, Islam Makhachev and Valentina Shevchenko controlled their fights from beginning to end. While the Russian was able to win the welterweight belt and become another champion in two different divisions, the Kyrgyz woman kept the flyweight title with her.
Fighting
As expected of a fighter from Dagestan, Makhachev took advantage of his first opportunity to overpower Della Maddalena and drop the Australian. The welterweight champion was able to stay in position without much danger and did not give the Russian any space to work on his grappling. The first was when the Australian tried to escape, but was brought down again by the Dagestani, who continued his work at the top and even tried to risk a chance to finish.
The second round started with both fighters trying to exchange and the Russian went with low kicks. In an attempt to take down Della Maddalena, Makhachev managed to defend himself and took down the champion himself, climbing to the top and putting his opponent against the cage using his elbows. Despite boos from the crowd, the Russian applied his control and used good ground and pound to dominate the fight.
Another stunning start in the third round and Della Maddalena was able to approach the Russian with punches directed to his body, but Makhachev responded immediately and the fight fell to the ground again. In half guard of his opponent, the Dagestani fighter imposed himself again, preventing the reaction of the Australian, who was unable to escape the dominance exercised by his opponent on the ground.
The whole story continued in the fourth round, with some blows, and later, Makhachev knocking his opponent to the ground. This time, the Australian tried something, but left his back free for the Russian, who risked submission, to no avail. In the same way the fight has been going so far, this bout ended with the former lightweight champion being completely dominant in the main event of UFC 322.
Once again, the Russian threw his opponent to the ground in the fifth round and went for a kimura, which the Australian defended well. Too little to handle with a competitor who knows how to use his ground game to dominate his opponents. Without any reaction from Della Maddalena, Makhachev simply controlled the fight until the end and became another double UFC champion.
Dominant Valentina Shevchenko wins and retains flyweight belt
The first title fight at UFC 322 was the flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Weili Zhang. The beginning of the fight witnessed a striking session between the fighters, and the Kyrgyzstan quickly put the fight to the ground through the knees. Knee strikes were the champion’s weapon to contain the Chinese and she used pressure well to get the best shots, and in the last part of the round, she got another strike and tried ground and pound.
In the second round, another initial striking session was followed by a takedown by “Bullet”, who went for the cross and maintained control over Zhang, who was not able to defend herself well against the attacks of Valentina, who controlled the grappling pace well, despite not taking much risk in seeking a submission.
Valentina Shevchenko continued her striking dominance in the third round, landing a good kick to the body and a good right hand. Zhang tried to reciprocate, but she could not find a way to impose herself on the champion, who continued to take her knees and seize every opportunity to finish the fight and win another round, dominating her opponent.
The Kyrgyz woman increased her focus on her kicks during the fourth round, which really upset Weili Zhang. The “bullet” strategy continued to have an impact, as she undermined the actions of the Chinese woman who was on her feet and was able to use every opportunity she had to get through the fight and take control on top without any major problems, winning every round she could.
Nothing changed in the fifth and decisive round. Chang tried to ease up a bit more, and failed to succeed against an opponent who was better in every way. Who, once again, applied the takedown, and stayed on top until the end of the fight to secure an easy, dominant win that kept her for the flyweight belt.
Morales and Prats won decisive battles
Two important fights in the welterweight category took place on Saturday in New York, and they all ended in knockouts. One of them was between Sean Brady and Michael Morales, where the Ecuadorian immediately showed his credentials by rising and pressuring the American. More aggressive, Morales defended the takedown attempt well, and in the first round, he landed a right hand that rocked Brady.
The American did not stop the sequence of punches that followed, and remained steadfast until he ended up on the ground. As the pressure increased, the referee stopped the fight and Morales took a step forward to try to be the next contender in this category.
Carlos Prats previously faced former category champion Leon Edwards. The fighting was fierce, and some moments witnessed the exchange of insults between the fighters. In the first part of the fight, Prats started well and landed strikes, but the Englishman soon got a crushing blow and used all his wrestling to trouble “The Nightmare”, although he did not get the space to finish the fight.
Prats continued his attack in the second round, and the first moments were frank exchanges between the two sides. But when a hard left from the Brazilian arrived, Edwards fell to the ground and the Brazilian took advantage to strike more and land the knockout, securing another win and keeping alive his dream of being able to compete for the 77kg belt.
The Brazilians are on the preliminary card
Three more Brazilians starred on the preliminary card of UFC 322. Rodolfo Vieira faced off against one of the organization’s most popular fighters, Bo Nickal, and the American quickly went after the “black belt hunter”, but without much success. Nikal bet on striking and invited Rodolfo to do so, as the Brazilian was looking for defeat, especially in the second round, where the latter also failed to overcome his rival. In the third and final part of the fight, the beginning was warm, but Nikal received a high kick to the Brazilian’s head, which led to Rodolfo falling to the ground and losing consciousness, thus another victory for the wrestling star.
Against Roman Kopelov, Gregory RoboCop looked to resume his positive streak in Ultimate. In strikes, the Brazilian started better and tried to impose himself in front of the Russian. In the second round, facing the sequence, the Rondonia native took advantage of a moment of imbalance to even try to hook the heel. The offensive initiative continued to belong to Grigory, but in the third round, he almost ended up being knocked down by Kopylov’s cross. Robocop recovered and was able to maintain the momentum, thus securing another victory.
In the first fight of UFC 322, Mateusz Camillo faced Russian Vyacheslav Borchev who was looking to bounce back from a defeat in his first fight in the organization. It was a fight in which Jaguar used strategy and grappling well, managing to drop his opponent several times and counter his offensive momentum that shamelessly attacked the Brazilian. Matheus was able to impose his game, and had no major problems in achieving victory in the judges’ decision
UFC 322 Results – Della Maddalena x Makhachev
Main card
Islam Makhachev defeated Jack Della Maddalena by unanimous decision of the judges – Makhachev is the new welterweight champion
Valentina Shevchenko defeated Weili Zhang by unanimous decision of the judges – Shevchenko retains the flyweight belt
Michael Morales defeated Shawn Brady via TKO (3:27 of R1)
Carlos Prats defeated Leon Edwards by knockout (1:28 from R2)
Benoit Saint-Denis defeated Benel Dariush by knockout (0:16 of the first round)
Initial card
Bo Nickal defeated Rodolfo Vieira by knockout (2:24 of Round 3)
Gregory Robocop defeated Roman Kopylov by unanimous decision
Erin Blanchfield defeated Tracy Cortez via submission (4:44 of R2)
Ethene Ewing defeated Malcolm Wheelmaker by unanimous decision
Kyle Daukaus defeated Gerald Meerschaert via submission (0:50 of R1)
Pat Sabatini defeated Chibi Mariscal by unanimous decision of the judges
Fatima Klein defeated Angela Hill by unanimous decision of the judges
Baysangur Susurkaev defeated Eric McConniko via knockout (1:38 of Round 3)
Mateusz Camillo defeated Vyacheslav Borchev by unanimous decision of the judges
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