The main card also featured another massive title bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Weili Zhang in the co-main event, and the pay-per-view action kicked off in incredible fashion when Saint-Denis flattened Beneil Dariush in just 16 seconds.

Dillon Danis was ejected from the crowd at UFC 322 for his involvement in a brawl that broke out ringside ahead of Saturday night's main card at Madison Square Garden.

In the main event, Makhachev will battle welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena. Makhachev won the lightweight championship in 2022 and successfully defended the title four times before vacating to move to welterweight. Dealla Maddalena will be making his first defense of the title he won in May with a decision win over Belal Muhammad.

At UFC 317, Beneil Dariush took home nearly $300,000, and his payout is expected to exceed $300,000 with a win at UFC 322. His opponent, Benoit Saint-Denis, earned around $100–150,000 from just his base pay in his last fight, and his salary is expected to slightly increase.

Welterweight king Jack Della Maddalena gets top-of-the-marquee treatment at Madison Square Garden with the first defense of a six-month title reign against ladder-climbing lightweight champ Islam Makhachev, while flyweight ruler Valentina Shevchenko risks her throne against rising strawweight boss Zhang Weili.

Beneil Dariush wants to fight the best competition in the world and get paid to do it.

Everyone has an opinion, and that includes former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. While many are talking about Jon Jones and Alex Pereira's public campaigns to fight one another, Nurmagomedov thinks there's a bigger fight to be made.