UFC 322: What's next for Makhachev, Shevchenko and other stars? - ESPN

UFC 322 might have set the stage for some big fights in 2026, as the fight card provided fans with a new welterweight champion, a handful of highlight finishes and perhaps a new top contender in the welterweight division.

In the main event, former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev made light work of Jack Della Maddalena to claim his welterweight title. Earlier on the fight card, a pair of 170-pound contenders, Michael Morales and Carlos Prates, pulled off impressive KO wins to throw their names into the mix of potential challengers for Makhachev's new belt.

In between all of that, women's flyweight champ Valentina Shevchenko earned possibly the biggest win of her career, dominating former strawweight titleholder Zhang Weili en route to a unanimous decision win.

Who should be the first fighter to take on the 170-pound champ? What options are out there for Shevchenko and Zhang? Here's how the top stars from UFC 322 could be booked next.

Who should be next: Kamaru Usman

There are at least five legitimate options for Makhachev's first title defense, and each of them is good. Khabib Nurmagomedov would prefer Makhachev not fight for several more years, but the rest of the sport will likely disagree, as Makhachev has enough potential opponents to last him through 2028, at minimum.

For me, Usman is the No. 1 option. It's not perfect. Usman hasn't been all that active recently, but he was the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in his prime. He turned back the clock in a fight many believed he wouldn't win against Joaquin Buckley earlier this year, and Makhachev has expressed a desire to fight him. It's the best option at welterweight, if you don't count a potential move up by Ilia Topuria. Doing this fight doesn't deny another