Just before UFC 322, two of the most famous fighters in the game are set to attempt what few fighters actually can to their credit: to win a championship in a second weight class. The lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, is moving up to welterweight to take on the defending champion, Jack Della Maddalena, as the main event of the card.
Meanwhile, in a simultaneous co-main event, the strawweight queen, Zhang Weili, will be looking to dethrone Valentina Shevchenko, the reigning female flyweight. The interpretation is clear: both Makhachev and Zhang can be added to the list of UFC ‘champ-champ’ who are at the top of their game. But still, the experts are not convinced.
Makhachev may be one of the best pound-for-pound MMA fighters ever, yet changing to 170 lbs means new difficulties against a younger, champion welterweight in Della Maddalena.
On the women’s side, Zhang is facing Shevchenko, a legendary veteran who is widely respected among the best female fighters in history. The panel of experts gave their perspectives on the probability of both rising as double champions during a recent roundtable.
One observer said the odds of either succeeding were ‘fairly low’ given the steep step-up needed for each. Believing her style and road could be better suited for the present, another person gave Zhang a better chance than Makhachev. Besides the main fights, the event will still indicate which way the divisions are going to go in the future.
A loss for Makhachev, for instance, could lead to his already controversial shift to welterweight being postponed or reconsidered; if Della Maddalena wins, he would be the next in line.
At the same time, Makhachev and Zhang’s Fight in UFC 322 results might indirectly decrease or increase the priority of women’s fights in the weight divisions. While the spectators of UFC 322 are looking forward to the event, the more general question arises whether these fights will be just great matchups or true game changers for the hierarchy.