Russian fighter Islam Makhachev secured a victory over Australian Jack Della Maddalena in the main event of UFC 322. Makhachev won by judges’ decision and claimed the welterweight title. He became a two-time UFC champion—previously, the 34-year-old Makhachev was the lightweight champion and vacated the belt to move to a different weight class. Maddalena suffered his third loss against 18 wins. Makhachev earned his 28th MMA victory with only one defeat. More details about Islam’s iconic win are in the “Izvestia” material. Key Moment Prior to this fight, Makhachev held a streak of 15 consecutive wins. A successful fight against Maddalena could have allowed the Russian to equal Anderson Silva’s historic record of 16 straight UFC victories. Before moving to the welterweight division, Makhachev successfully defended his 70 kg belt four times, which is the best record in the history of his weight class. After winning the title fight against Charles Oliveira, Islam defeated Alex Volkanovski twice, and also finished Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano. Jack Della Maddalena became a UFC champion quite recently—in May 2025. The Australian unexpectedly won against Belal Muhammad by unanimous judges’ decision, following seven prior victories. Fighters such as Gilbert Burns, Kevin Holland, and Ramazan Emeev are among those Maddalena has defeated. Prior to the bout with Makhachev, Jack trained alongside Alex Volkanovski, who gave Islam a very difficult first fight. Ultimately, Makhachev took all five rounds. It turned out that Islam was simply capable of denying the boxer distance. He gave Poirier that distance and outboxed him, but here he just didn’t allow it. In the first round, Maddalena tried to blitz to close the distance, but Islam dodged, and the strikes missed. He tried again—Islam met him with a left hook. In the following rounds, when Maddalena tried to close the distance, Makhachev took him down. It was also striking that Islam was in excellent physical condition for this weight, as well as functionally. But here, the superiority in technical grappling and grappling IQ was so great that Islam didn’t need to strain himself seriously functionally. Every takedown landed, the opponent couldn’t stand up, and there was no need to fight against the cage. Consequently, energy was not wasted. The key moment of the fight was Maddalena’s failed trip takedown in the second round. He used this trip to throw everyone off him, but here he got caught. If he hadn’t attempted it, if he had just stood firm, wrestled with the grip, fought for the underhook—he might have drained some strength from Islam and even achieved some small psychological shift. This is because, as you may recall, Islam initially failed to secure Jack’s leg against the cage. He might still have dragged him to the cage, but Maddalena was clearly too hasty with the trip. The main thing is that Jack had no opportunity to stand up, could do nothing about the shoulder pressure, couldn’t land a knee strike from half-guard (like Volkov did against Almeida, though the anthropometry and physics there were different, of course), and showed no technical sweeps. He only successfully created space once—in the first round—but then gave up his back. He also couldn’t use the wall to maneuver his legs at the cage—complete helplessness. Makhachev never missed anything, never faltered, never lost position on the ground—this is the highest class. Challenged Answered: Can a Jack Della Maddalena Stop Makhachev The Russian is chasing a second belt The Dream This victory marked the Russian’s 16th in a row. He equaled the record of the Brazilian Anderson Silva, who won 16 fights consecutively from 2006 to 2013. “This is a dream, my whole life has been about these two titles,” Makhachev said after the fight. “I am so happy. These titles are so heavy, and I love it. I worked very hard for this. New York, thank you! I swear, my life has changed, there is no weight cut now, I can work for five rounds without a break, grapple, whatever I want. I made this fight easy. My plan, it’s no secret—[grappling].” “Everything was flawless,” he emphasized. “Islam works like a computer. Right now, Makhachev is simply smarter than everyone. Notice how genuinely happy he was. This is the first time I’ve seen such emotions from him. Credit must be given to Maddalena—he defended capably. He allowed his head to be grabbed, of course, but otherwise, everything was fine.” Who is the toughest opponent for Makhachev in this weight class? Rakhmonov, Morales, then Garry. Prates won’t succeed in grappling. Usman is strong, but he’s in the past. He will also take heavy shots from Islam on the feet. Topuria is too small for 77 kg. Islam won’t give him distance, and Ilia will have to struggle in grappling. Makhachev is also a southpaw, so Topuria won’t be able to land his signature leg kicks either. UFC President Dana White, when asked about a possible Makhachev vs. Topuria fight, replied that there are many options and everything depends on what Islam intends to do.
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