From an airplane in Washington, D.C., where the UFC is planning to put on an event next summer, CEO Dana White announced the three fights that with culminate UFC 322 at New York’s Madison Square Garden on Nov. 15. Five current and past champions will be in action on those three bouts.
Zhang Weili, the strawweight champion, is vacating her belt to move up to women’s flyweight and challenge reigning champion Valentina Shevchenko in the co-main event. Then ESPN’s No. 2 pound-for-pound fighter, Islam Makhachev, who vacated his lightweight belt earlier this year, makes his highly anticipated bid for the welterweight title against champion Jack Della Maddalena.
As if two superfights weren’t enough, White also announced that former welterweight champion Leon Edwards will get his opportunity to break a two-fight losing streak against Carlos Prates, who has knocked out 11 of his past 12 opponents.
On paper, this card looks to be fit for Madison Square Garden, one of the most legendary venues in combat sports, but is there still reason to be disappointed because it doesn’t have the superfight fans were initially promised? Let’s take a look at the topic and more questions for the UFC 322 card.
Is this three-fight mega-card better than if we’d gotten Jon Jones vs. Tom Aspinall at MSG?
No. Not even close. This lineup is amazing, but Jones vs. Aspinall would have…
