Madison Square Garden produced plenty of unforgettable moments in the Octagon, just like usual.
History was made in the main event of UFC 322 as one individual unlocked multiple milestones.
The New York crowd witnessed some of the craziest finishes of the year with shocking knockouts and outstanding submissions.
With all the thrilling action inside one of the most iconic arenas, here is everything that happened at UFC 322.
Makhachev lives the dream as Double Champ
One of the most anticipated battles of 2025 was ready to take place as it was Australia vs Dagestan again in a headliner.
Jack Della Maddalena became the welterweight champion in his last bout after dethroning Belal Muhammad by unanimous decision at UFC 315.
Islam Makhachev was on a path of destruction at lightweight and wanted to challenge himself in the weight class above.
The Russian aimed to make history in the UFC, but the Aussie was hoping to stop that and pull off a huge upset.
The 29-year-old struggled to defend the takedowns of Combat Sambo fighter, unable to use his strengths on the feet.
Makhachev teased multiple submission attempts throughout the five rounds while in control, but couldn’t finish the fight.
It was clear that the challenger was successful as he blazed through Della Maddalena to become a two-division champion.
The new King of the 170lbs division has some options for his first defence as he aims to break the record for longest win streak in UFC history.
Shevchenko dominantly denies Weili and retains title
Amanda Nunes remains the only female fighter to be a two-division champion after the co-main event cancelled out a possibility of a second.
Valentina Shevchenko was aiming to make her second successful title defence in her second reign as women’s flyweight champion.
Zhang Weili stepped up a challenge to earn the double champ status after her dominance at strawweight.
Many in the MMA community believed this would be a highly competitive fight, but that was not the case.
Throughout the five rounds, the ‘Bullet’ displayed dominance with her grappling, keeping the Chinese fighter on the ground.
The defending champion also caused problems for Weili on the feet, landing some painful body kicks.
Although the two-time 115lbs champion landed some significant strikes, it would not be enough to win a single round.
Shevchenko won all five rounds, taking the unanimous decision win and added another tough challenger to her resume.
Ecuador has an MMA Superstar
The welterweight title eliminator did not disappoint, lasting less than four minutes of the first round.
Sean Brady was hoping to claim his shot for the belt after submitting a former champion in enemy territory at UFC London.
Michael Morales became the real deal at 170lbs, stopping Gilbert Burns in the first round.
A statement victory would allow either fighter their chance to face the winner of UFC 322’s main event.
While the bout was predicted to be a close and contested matchup, it would only be one-sided.
Morales stunned Brady with multiple strikes throughout the battle, as well as stuffing all of the Americans’ takedown attempts.
Eventually, the Ecuadorian knocked down the #2 contender and quickly finished the fight on the ground to win by TKO.
At just 25 years old and still undefeated with 19 wins, Morales looks unstoppable as he eyes the title next.
Other Highlights From UFC 322
Carlos Prates became the first to knock out Leon Edwards in MMA, landing his brutal strike in the second round.
The Brazilian will move into the top five and may be a fight away from confirming a title shot.
Benoit Saint-Denis knocked out Beneil Dariush in just 16 seconds, increasing his win streak to three.
The ‘God of War’ moves into the lightweight top 10 for the first time and signifies that he’s hungry for UFC gold.
Bo Nickal knocked Rodolfo Vieira out cold with a head kick in the third round to bounce back from his first MMA loss.
Gregory Rodrigues earned back-to-back victories, going the distance with Roman Kopylov to win by unanimous decision.
Erin Blanchfield maintained her ranking after submitting Tracy Cortez, claiming revenge and becoming the first to stop the Phoenix fighter.
Ethyn Ewing stepped up on two days’ notice to compete on his UFC debut and defeated hyped prospect Malcolm Wellmaker by unanimous decision.
Kyle Daukaus made quick work of Gerald Meerschaert, living up to his nickname ‘The D’Arce Knight’, submitting him with a D’Arce Choke in round one.
Pat Sabatini claimed long-awaited revenge after beating Chepe Mariscal by unanimous decision, earning his third consecutive victory.
Fatima Kline extended her win streak to three after earning a dominant, unanimous decision win over Angela Hill, entering the strawweight rankings.
Baisangur Susarkaev remained undefeated after knocking out Eric McConico in round three, making the Russian a bigger prospect at 185lbs.
Matheus Camilo picked up his first UFC win, defeating Viacheslav Borshchev by unanimous decision.