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Split image of two UFC fighters in the octagon: Jack Della Maddalena in green shorts sticks out his tongue with a playful gesture, Islam Makhachev in white shorts roars intensely with fists clenched.
Announcements

Dana White Announces Title Fights For UFC 321 And UFC 322

By Zac Pacleb • Aug. 29, 2025

UFC CEO Dana White shed more light on two upcoming numbered events on the promotion’s calendar as he announced three blockbuster matchups set for UFC 321 in Abu Dhabi and UFC 322 in New York City. 

The two bouts in New York City are a pair of highly anticipated champion-vs-champion matchups. In the main event, newly minted welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena makes his first defense against longtime lightweight king Islam Makhachev. The fight was one most assumed would happen once Della Maddalena unseated Belal Muhammad at UFC 315, and he’ll now look to thwart Makhachev’s quest to join the elite group of fighters who have collected belts in multiple weightclasses. 

Register Your Interest For UFC 322 

Makhachev’s move up to welterweight has long been discussed in the MMA community and from Makhachev’s own mouth. Although lightweight remains bursting with contenders, and some are pining for a matchup between Makhachev and current lightweight king Ilia Topuria, Makhachev’s 3-year reign on the 155-pound throne has more than earned his ticket to a welterweight title fight. Recently, Makhachev ran through Renato Moicano at UFC 311 when the Brazilian stepped in for Arman Tsarukyan at the last second. The win was Makhachev’s fourth consecutive defense, the most in lightweight history supplanting the record his friend and mentor Khabib Nurmagomedov tied five years ago. 

The bout against Della Maddalena is the furthest thing from a coronation. The Perth-bred man looked better than ever against Muhammad, who has a similar enough style to Makhachev (which is to say: they like to grapple) that has people wondering if Makhachev will find as much success up a weightclass. Della Maddalena, who earned his contract via Dana White’s Contender Series in September 2021, is perfect through eight trips to the Octagon, collecting five finishes and six Performance Bonuses along the way. 

Before they square off in arguably the year’s most anticipated bout, another similarly hyped matchup goes down for the women’s flyweight title as Valentina Shevchenko continues her second reign against former strawweight queen Zhang Weili, who will vacate her title as she pursues her second belt. 

Shevchenko is coming off a clean decision win over Manon Fiorot at UFC 315, the first defense of her second flyweight reign since ending her trilogy with Alexa Grasso on top. The 37-year-old “Bullet” proved she is as sharp as ever even as the division continues to churn out better and better contenders. However, this superfight with Zhang is one fans have clamored about for years. 

Zhang, 36, has roundly cleaned out the strawweight division since capturing the belt for a second time in November 2022. Other than two bouts against Rose Namajunas, Zhang has dominated her fellow 115ers, tallying 10 wins and five Performance Bonuses. Most recently, she shut out and dominated the previously undefeated Tatiana Suarez at UFC 312, her fourth defense and sixth title fight win overall. She will look to join Amanda Nunes as the only women to capture belts in multiple weightclasses. 

Also, hot off his spinning back elbow KO in Chicago at UFC 319, Brazilian sensation Carlos Prates steps up to face former champion Leon Edwards to add some welterweight intrigue to your MSG card.

Before Zhang makes her bid for history, two Brazilian strawweights will duke it out for her vacated title at UFC 321 as Virna Jandiroba and Mackenzie Dern lock horns in a rematch, this time with gold on the line. Dern got the best of Jandiroba in their first fight at UFC 267. via unanimous decision. At the time, the win was Dern’s third on what would be a 4-fight winning streak. Since then, Dern has gone a little up and down, dropping four of her next six. She found her groove last summer, though, picking up decision wins over Loopy Godinez and Amanda Ribas. 

Jandiroba, on the other hand, appears to be in the form of her life. Since that loss to Dern, “Carcara” won six of her next seven, including her last five. Along the way, she beat Angela Hill, marina Rodriguez, Amanda Lemos, Yan Xiaonan and Godinez to cement herself as one of the top strawweights in the world. 

UFC 321 is scheduled for October 25 in Abu Dhabi while UFC 322 goes down on November 15 in New York City. 

Stay tuned to UFC.com for any updates regarding fights and events. 

UFC 321: Aspinall vs Gane took place live from Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on October 25, 2025. See the final Prelim & Main Card Results, Official Scorecards and Who Won Bonuses - and relive the action on UFC FIGHT PASS!