UFC 322 adds pivotal lightweight fight to MSG card headlined by Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev

A new bout has been added to the UFC 322 card.

RMC Sports Combat first brought word that a 155-pound tilt between Beneil Dariush and Benoit Saint Denis has been booked for the Nov. 15 card. For Saint Denis, it’s a chance to make his way to the top 10 rankings. As for Dariush, he wants to keep his hold at the No. 9 spot against the No. 13-ranked Saint Denis.

Following back-to-back losses to Dustin Poirier and Renato Moicano, Saint Denis bounced back with submission wins over Kyle Prepolec and Mauricio Ruffy. Saint Denis explained to MMAFighting.com what he learned after suffering the loss to Poirier back in 2024.

“I learned a lot,” Saint Denis said. “First, I learned that you have to underestimate nobody, especially top fighters like that. And you can’t go out there not being healthy. That’s huge. But, despite that, I learned a lot. Nothing comes by mistake, I believe if I had this staph infection this late into my camp, it’s because I was stressed and I took no pleasure in my training camp.”

Like Saint Denis, Dariush also suffered back-to-back finishing losses. He was stopped by Charles Oliveira and Arman Tsarukyan before taking off all of 2024. He bounced back with a unanimous decision victory over Moicano back in June. Dariush told MMAJunkie.com that he still believes he’s within reach of title contention.

“I could be maybe two fights away,” Dariush said. “If I have a good performance now, I beat a top five guy then I beat a top five guy, I’m in title contention. You never know. Sometimes one fight might be enough. It might take three. It will probably take two more fights to be honest with you.”

Stick with BJPenn.com for the latest updates on the UFC 322 card, which will be headlined by a welterweight title fight between Jack Della Maddalena and Islam Makhachev.