Overview
- The championship bout headlines Nov. 15 in New York, with Australian titleholder Jack Della Maddalena defending against former lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, who has moved to 170 pounds.
- A win would make Makhachev a two-division UFC champion and tie Anderson Silva’s record of 16 consecutive UFC victories.
- Head coach Javier Mendez says this is Makhachev’s best camp yet, and fight-week images show a noticeably larger frame after he acknowledged using creatine to aid the move up in weight.
- Former opponent Dustin Poirier says the fight likely turns on whether Makhachev can secure and hold takedowns against Della Maddalena’s scrambling and boxing.
- The card also features Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili at flyweight, and Mendez points to Kamaru Usman or Ilia Topuria as leading options for Makhachev’s first defense if he claims the belt.