X/@ufc
The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced a pay-per-view event at Madison Square Garden, headlined by the lightweight title fight between defending champion Islam Makhachev and ascending contender Jack Della Maddalena. In the same event marked UFC 322, the highly anticipated women’s strawweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko and Zhang Weili is set to take place, alongside the welterweight title fight featuring champion Leon Edwards and the challenger, Kamaru Usman.
Advertisement
The UFC has shared a promotional image featuring the four fighters who will be competing in the co-main event and in the main event. At the front we see Makhachev and Della Maddalena, who have a history of heated stare offs. Right behind them are Shevchenko and Zhang Weili. The picture is filled with tension, much like the promotion described, “epic fights in The World’s Most Famous Arena.”
The fans’ reactions across all social media platforms are mostly good. The goodness of the reactions increases as the diversity of opinions increases as to the matchmakings. The social media platforms are full of the information about the card being loaded. Someone called it a “fire card,” and the main and co-main events were called “🔥🔥” by someone else.
The comments don’t get increasingly optimistic. Yet there is one, “Main is ass tbh. Co-main is fun but it’ll be Zhang dominating on the ground. Leon Edwards? Tf. Ass overall,” and someone else decided to dismiss it with a “Casual rage baiting.”
The discussion got more heated for the main event with Makhachev and Della Maddalena, and a few users focused on the fight’s details. The interesting part is how they stood out of the discussion. “My take is either sub in round 4 or decision for Makhachev,” said one user, in which “I think it will be better off for Della Maddalena to be subbed… Too painful to go through all 5 rounds,” is what another said.
Epic fights in The World’s Most Famous Arena ‼️
Jack Della Maddalena vs @MakhachevMMA 🏆@BulletValentina vs Zhang Weili 🏆@Leon_EdwardsMMA vs @TheNightmare170
Register #UFC322 interest 👉 https://t.co/jVJGMCoHeE pic.twitter.com/8hYszPJDmM
— UFC (@ufc) August 29, 2025
After the betting insight, a different user insisted, “Solid point—going the distance against Islam’s pressure would be grueling for JDM. I see sub in round 3, but round 4 is plausible if Della survives early. Odds now at -280 for Makhachev.” Since the original user was continuing to bet on a decision, the users clearly had an in-depth discussion of the technical aspects of the matchup.
The focus of both Shang Zhang and Weili Shevchenko generated a lot of Instagram comments calling this matchup straight fire and “🔥🔥🔥🔥.” One of the comments was “Bullet time,” referencing Shevchenko’s nickname “Bullet.”
One commenter asked about the promotional picture, writing “Where is Makhachev’s belt?” This question shows some of the small UFC details fans are paying attention to.
The matchup between Leon Edwards and Karamu Usman sparked more divisive comments, with one user predicting ‘Edwards about to die a rat’s death’ whilst another was more optimistic saying ‘Welterweight x2 champ bratha.’
Some of the comments reflect the reality of today’s MMA fandom. One user remarked, ‘Some real good fights here. Let’s hope none drop out,’ which highlights the annoying phenomenon of last-minute fight cancellations that afflicts the sport.
A different user marked the pick-up during the same span as the other user who remarked, ‘This is gonna be back to back stacked cards 🔥,’ implying the company is picking up steam in what looks to be a promising year-end schedule.
Both the strawweight and lightweight title fights assigned to the pay-per-view would put the reception into the positive side. However, the multiple divisions being fought for, as well as the championship contests on the same card, alongside the strawweight, and lightweight title fights, while being a selling point of the card, have, for the greater part, abandoned modern UFC programming, something that makes this card stand out.
The comments with the technical analyses, as stated before, reflect the growing sophistication of MMA fandom as well as the understanding of MMA commentary. Rather than root for a specific fighter, fans prefer discussing style versus style, specific rounds, and betting odds.
As evidenced by their multifaceted responses to fight announcement scrutinies, the modern MMA fan is engaged and knowledgeable, which is a distinction similar to most major UFC announcement, where the discussions advance beyond cheerleading to include MMA analytics. This includes, but not limited to UFC promotional details, excitement, and criticism.
Advertisement
Madison Square Garden is a landmark venue for combat sports and the venue for UFC’s annual November show. The iconic venue serves as the folklore for combat sports in New York along with the multitude of championship fights. Fueled the speculation that fight fans can stare into indefinitely, and now register anticipation for the event is immeasurable.