UFC 322 Recap: Makhachev & Shevchenko Dominate | Full Breakdown - video Dailymotion

Peter Klein

UFC 322 delivered exactly what we expected - complete dominance from both champions. Islam Makhachev becomes a two-division champion with a 25-minute beatdown of Jack Della Maddalena, while Valentina Shevchenko reminds everyone she's the flyweight queen with total control over Zhang Weili. Breaking down both title fights and what's next for all four fighters.  🥊 UFC 322 - MAIN EVENT: ISLAM MAKHACHEV vs JACK DELLA MADDALENA Islam Makhachev - Now a Two-Division Champion 25 minutes of absolute domination. Makhachev moved up from 155 pounds (dropped that belt) and spent the entire fight whooping JDM's ass. What We Learned:  Makhachev is an elite welterweight too Size difference didn't matter JDM was the "easy target" everyone thought he'd be Islam's control was suffocating  What's Next for Jack Della Maddalena: This is a TOUGH spot for JDM now. Similar to Dricus Du Plessis after the Khamzat loss - he has to earn his way back.  Nobody picked him to win, everyone assumed Makhachev would move up because JDM was "easy," and then Islam made him look exactly like that. JDM beats good fighters, but this sets him back significantly. Has to climb back into championship graces now.  🥊 CO-MAIN: VALENTINA SHEVCHENKO vs ZHANG WEILI Valentina Shevchenko - Still The Queen Another 25 minutes of complete control. The ONLY time Shevchenko wasn't winning was when rounds started and they had to be separated. Zhang Weili dared to be great, moving up in weight, but got dominated.  THE GSP COMPARISON: Shevchenko is now at the George St-Pierre phase of her career.  Here's what I mean: GSP lost to Matt Serra, came back and dominated him at UFC 82/83, then beat BJ Penn. But as wins piled up, GSP became VERY aware of his legacy. He started fighting to protect that legacy. Less risk-taking. More of what he was best at (jab, takedown, top control). It worked, but was less exciting.  Shevchenko is doing the same thing now: After the Grasso loss, the light bulb went on: "That sucked, don't want to do that again."  She recognized where she's better than everyone (strength, technique, takedowns, control) and just does THAT now. Not as dynamic, but incredibly effective. She knows she's better than everyone at these specific things, so why risk anything else?  The Champion's Mentality: Winning is what matters because losing HURTS in this sport. Can't blame her for fighting safe when she's clearly the best.  What's Next for Zhang Weili: Unfortunately, daring to be great might negatively affect her legacy. This loss sticks with her. She has to go back down to strawweight and prove herself again against new challengers emerging (Mackenzie Dern championship run, etc.).

Transcript

00:00UFC 322 had a couple of very intriguing fights at the top of the card. That was going into it.

00:07As soon as the fight started though, we kind of recognized what was happening.

00:10Let's break down an interesting, albeit at the end of the night, predictable UFC 322.

00:16UFC 322, one of the final UFC pay-per-views, I was going to say of the year, but maybe just ever,

00:32as the new TV deal in the States gets rid of that model down there anyway.

00:37Haven't heard a whole lot from Canada, but either way, that story for another day.

00:41UFC 322, this was a card I was interested in.

00:43We did this in the fight night first look, where you kind of had a similar storyline in both,

00:51where there is a champion from one weight class moving up into the next one, hoping for a next level of greatness.

01:00And we saw greatness on display, and it's kind of interesting because the two fights actually did kind of mirror each other,

01:05although it was the opposite end of that contender spectrum, right?

01:08Because in the one, Islam Makashev moves up from 155 pounds and spends exactly 25 minutes

01:14whooping the ass of Jack Della Maddalena, and now a two-division champion.

01:20Although, again, the 155-pound belt was dropped, but still, he is a champion now in a couple of weight classes.

01:27Meanwhile, in the other one, it was Zhang Weili moving up, daring to be great, and she got dominated for 25 minutes by Valentina Shevchenko.

01:37Literally, the only time that Shevchenko wasn't winning the fight was when the rounds started,

01:42and they had to be separated based on the unified rules of mixed martial arts.

01:46So, there wasn't a whole lot of drama in these fights, and you come out of it with just a great appreciation

01:53for the dominance of the two champions now, with Makashev and with Valentina Shevchenko.

01:59There wasn't a whole lot there, either for Jack Della Maddalena or for Zhang Weili.

02:07Just complete, complete control there for both champions, Makashev and Shevchenko.

02:15Just for those watching live, in the chat, Nick Turman, 9101, saying,

02:21I want your opinion on a trade I just made in Dynasty.

02:23I will get that to you in a second, absolutely.

02:25Whatever you want to talk about in the chat, I will do it.

02:27We just want to finish up talking about what we are talking about here first,

02:31and that is the absolute dominance of Makashev and Shevchenko.

02:35So, I think with both fighters, you can make a pretty compelling argument

02:40that they are one of the best fighters of their era.

02:44Obviously, with Shevchenko, it's her and Nunes, right?

02:46Like, for this, I guess, kind of post-Joanna run that she had,

02:53and even, like, the tail end of that, they kind of cross over,

02:55but in this kind of next era, it's those two fighters,

02:58and now that, I mean, Nunes is coming back against Kayla Harrison,

03:01but now that Nunes has been gone for a couple of years,

03:04this has been Valentina's show.

03:06Even with the loss to Grosso, this has been Valentina's show.

03:10And Zhang Weili, really good fighter, just not on that level.

03:15And we're getting to this point now with Shevchenko,

03:18where George St. Pierre was, kind of at the back part of his prime.

03:23Um, GSP lost to Matt Serra and came back.

03:29UFC 82? Montreal? 83. One of those two.

03:32Um, and completely dominated Matt Serra.

03:36And then a great win against BJ Penn.

03:38But as the wins started to pile up,

03:41GSP was very aware of his place in history

03:44and what the wins meant

03:46and what being champion meant to him

03:49and his legacy and just the sport in general.

03:52And he started to fight knowing that.

03:54And so you got a lot less risk-taking.

03:57You also just understand,

03:58well, that sucked. Don't want to do that again.

04:00But I'm better than everyone at this thing.

04:02And so, you wouldn't get George Rush, St. Pierre.

04:06It was a lot of the jabs.

04:07And takedowns and then...

04:10Excellent top control.

04:12And that was it.

04:13And now you're kind of seeing that with Shevchenko here,

04:16where she has the loss to Grosso.

04:18And it was an aspect of her game

04:21that Grosso had obviously drilled,

04:23had obviously learned,

04:24and saw one opening and took advantage.

04:27And Shevchenko, the lightbulb kind of goes on.

04:29It's like, well, that sucks.

04:32Don't want to do that again.

04:33And so she has now recognized

04:35where she's better at than everyone else.

04:38And she's just going to go with that.

04:40So you don't get a lot of the drama.

04:41You don't get a lot of varied attacks from Shevchenko.

04:47She recognizes she can, for the most part,

04:50in this division, because of her strength

04:52and technique and everything,

04:54she can go in, get a takedown, hold him there,

04:56and that's the win.

04:58She is also very good on the feet as well.

05:00And I think she is at a point where she recognizes

05:03she is good enough that she can do a couple of things,

05:06and that's going to keep her safe,

05:08and that's going to keep her victorious.

05:09And for her, that is going to keep her champion,

05:11which is the name of the game, right?

05:12Like, we get frustrated with some of these men and women sometimes.

05:16For them, winning is what you need to do.

05:19Because in this sport, when you don't, it hurts a lot.

05:22So I don't necessarily blame them for it,

05:26but it doesn't necessarily lead to the most dynamic fights

05:30because Shevchenko is just well aware

05:31she's better than everyone right now,

05:33and specifically in the things that she does in that cage.

05:37Makachev, I think there's a little bit more resistance coming

05:39now that he's up at 170 pounds.

05:40But for Shevchenko, I don't know if there's a whole lot

05:44that is really lighting that fire at this time

05:47for the women's champion there.

05:51In terms of the people on the wrong side of these fights,

05:55this is a really tough spot now for Jack Della Madalena.

05:59Not a lot of people picked him to win the belt.

06:01As soon as he won it, everyone was assuming

06:03that Makachev was going to move up to 170 pounds

06:05because they felt like he was the easy target.

06:07Makachev moves up to 170 pounds

06:10and makes JDM look like the easy target.

06:14So excellent work from Makachev,

06:17but this sets Della Madalena back, I think, quite a bit.

06:21Honestly, it is like Drikas Duplassi from a few fights ago

06:26where he loses to Hamzat Shemaev,

06:29and he loses in such a way

06:31that no one thinks he is a valuable title contender right now,

06:35so he has to earn his way back.

06:37It's the same thing here now with Della Madalena.

06:40He has to earn his way back now

06:41into the championship, good graces.

06:44Zhang Wei Li has beat some of the best fighters in her era,

06:47but again, this wasn't close.

06:48Both of these fights,

06:49like the Makachev one, I was very confident in him.

06:52The Shevchenko one, I was pretty confident.

06:55But I, there was a little bit of a,

06:58oh, I don't know.

06:59The second those fights started,

07:01it was, oh, okay, yeah, no, we know how this is going.

07:03And that's tough

07:04because Wei Li is a really, really good fighter.

07:06I love that she dared to be great,

07:08but she obviously just was not on the level of Shevchenko.

07:11So I think you have to head back down now.

07:13And it's unfortunate that someone goes for greatness

07:16and it could negatively affect their legacy,

07:19but I think it kind of does.

07:20This is going to be one that I think sticks with Zhang Wei Li,

07:22and she's going to have to go back now

07:24and prove how good she is back at strawweight

07:27with a couple of new challengers

07:29coming out of the Mackenzie Dern championship victory.

07:32So those are my thoughts, UFC 322.

07:34Have I been unfair to either JDM or Zhang Wei Li?

07:38And what do you think is next for the two new champions?

07:40Let me know either in the chat

07:41or in the comment section below.

UFC 322 Recap: Makhachev & Shevchenko Dominate | Full Breakdown

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