What’s next for the stars of UFC 322?

The UFC was at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, on Saturday for a solid UFC 322 card. The main event saw Jack Della Maddalena defending his welterweight title against Islam Makhachev, while the co-main event saw Valentina Shevchenko defending her flyweight title against Zhang Weili.

In the end, it was Makhachev who used his wrestling and strength to dominate Della Maddalena to win a clear-cut decision and become the new welterweight champion. Shevchenko, meanwhile, also used her wrestling to dominate Weili to defend her flyweight title by decision. Following UFC 322, here is what I think should be next for the stars of the event.

Islam Makhachev

Islam Makhachev became the UFC’s welterweight champion on Saturday as he dominated Jack Della Maddalena at UFC 322. Makhachev was able to take Della Maddalena down at will. But not finishing the champ was a bit disappointing as Della Maddalena looked to be injured and in pain, but Makhachev used his control to ride out the win.

With the win, Makhachev said he wants to be an active champion, and although he called to fight Kamaru Usman, that fight shouldn’t happen. Instead, Makhachev should face Michael Morales, who scored a first-round knockout win over Sean Brady, as he looked super impressive and poses some problems for Makhachev.

Jack Della Maddalena

Jack Della Maddalena couldn’t stuff Islam Makhachev’s takedowns at UFC 322, which was an issue for him all fight long. Della Maddalena will have to go back to the drawing board and will likely need multiple wins in a row to get back into the title picture.

After UFC 322, a logical next fight for Della Maddalena is to face Joaquin Buckley. It would be a fun striking fight, and both are coming off losses where they got outwrestled and controlled. The winner of the fight will be back in the title picture, while the loser is a bit of a gatekeeper.

Valentina Shevchenko

(via Zuffa LLC)

Valentina Shevchenko dominated Zhang Weili at UFC 322 to defend her flyweight title. Shevchenko was too strong for Weili as she used her wrestling and control to win a one-sided decision.

Shevchenko didn’t take too much damage, so she could make a quick turnaround. Shevchenko’s next title defense should be against Natalia Silva, who’s coming off a win over Alexa Grasso and is on a 13-fight winning streak and is 7-0 in the UFC.

Zhang Weili

Zhang Weili moved up in weight to try and become a champ-champ at UFC 322, but the size and strength proved to be the difference against Valentina Shevchenko.

Weili could opt to retire, or she could return to strawweight and look to reclaim her belt. If she does fight again. Weili should get an immediate title shot against Mackenzie Dern. Weili gave up her belt to move up. So if she does move back down, a fight against Dern makes a lot of sense.