Following the controversial outcome of the main event of UFC 322, the lightweight champion Ilia Topuria has unleashed both verbal attacks on the newly crowned welterweight ruler, Islam Makhachev, for his super boring fighting style and also blames former champion Jack Della Maddalena for a poor performance.
The fight, which took place on November 15, 2025, at Madison Square Garden, New York City, had Makhachev take the welterweight title through a one-sided unanimous decision, and this continued his winning streak and established him as a multi-division conqueror.
Topuria’s remarks, in a recent interview, have revived the demand for a champion-versus-champion match, perhaps a knockout between the firearms-throwing Georgian, Spanish fighter and the grappling genius of Dagestan. This critique, as the results of the fallout are dissected by MMA fans, points to the contentiousness of entertainment value in the elite ranks of the sport.
UFC 322 Main Event Recap: Grappling Masterclass Makhachev
UFC 322, which was sponsored by VeChain and called VeChain UFC 322, was the first event to use Madison Square Garden in more than four years since UFC 309 in 2024. The main event was the welterweight championship in which Australia’s Jack Della Maddalena was fighting a vacated lightweight championship, Islam Makhachev, who had surrendered his lightweight title to go after the glory of 170 pounds.
Riding high on his domination reigning as a lightweight, Makhachev caught the eye of his trademark wrestling and ground control to offset the striking ability of Della Maddalena in five rounds. The fight was scored 50-45, 50-45 and 49-46 by judges in favour of Makhachev, and the Russian hardly worked hard since he took Della Maddalena down repeatedly and smothered any offensive efforts her opponent made.
Della Maddalena, the one who took the belt using a rope of knockouts, was tentative and could not execute his plan of action, which was very disappointing to the viewers and analysts.
The co-main event gave greater intrigue, and Valentina Shevchenko won her women’s flyweight title on a razor-thin decision over Zhang Weili, though the main event was not a firework show, and criticisms were made that it had not lived up to the hype. After the fight, Makhachev justified his style by saying that it is about winning and not the show, but that failed to stop the criticism from colleagues such as Topuria.
Scathing Critique and Callout by Ilia Topuria
Ilia Topuria, who is the undisputed lightweight champion, did not spare his judgment on the UFC 322 headliner. In an exclusive interview, Topuria showed tremendous disappointment over the effort of Della Maddalena and said that, to be honest, I was greatly disappointed in his performance… the performance which left me more disappointed was the performance of the former champion Jack Della Maddalena.
To tell the truth, I saw him on the spot, offering no opposition. He appeared to have been utterly averse to being in the battle. The 28-year-old phenomenon, who left his featherweight title after winning it against Max Holloway and subsequently knocking out Charles Oliveira at UFC 317 in June 2025 to take the 155-pound championship, pointed out that champs must possess a heart and a fighting spirit.
Toing his gaze to Makhachev, Topuria declared the new welterweight champion to have a style to is one of super boring, continuing that in the end, all Islam does is his job, which is to fight super boring. He is not concerned about the crowd, and it is not the way I view or present myself in the sport, since I always do my best to entertain the crowd, and when people invest their time and resources to watch me, they are very pleased with their investment.
Topuria is not alone in his sentiments since there are fans and fighters who do not believe that ground dominance should be used as a means of winning wars. It has taken more than a year to talk about his desire to fight Makhachev, and he envisions a superfight that can either divide or leave a legacy of a superfight.
Fighter Reactions Pour In After Topuria’s Comments
The MMA community has not been left behind as it has been rapid in reacting to the bold statements by Topuria as both in support and counterarguments had to be posted in large numbers on social media. Michael Chandler, a former lightweight contender who is fresh off his own recent wins, joined Topuria in concurring on the entertainment aspect of the fight, tweeting, “Fights such as that main event put amateurs to sleep.
Hail ,Islam thou hast won, More fireworks, more fireworks we must. Broadcast analysts on the UFC 322 network, such as Daniel Cormier and Laura Sanko, also shared the same sentiments, citing the uncharacteristic passivity on Della Maddalena against the pressure of Makhachev.
On the other hand, the other teammate of Makkachev and a previous champion Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his compatriot and wrote on Instagram that greatness is in planning, not flash. Nurmagomedov wrote that he beats you with a pound every pound, and that is the reason why he is the best pound-for-pound.
Other celebrities, such as welterweight competitor Colby Covington, tore Della Maddalena, terming his act as disgraceful to Australia. The discussion has increased the demand on stylistic battles that will ensure action, with some proposing the UFC to focus on entertaining fighters in title photos.
Future Implications on the Title Fight and Divisions of UFC
The criticism made by Topuria is not mere talk, but it creates speculation regarding a possible Makhachev vs. Topuria megafight. Topuria was hopeful as he said, “I hope [me vs. Islam] occurs. I believe it would be a high-end fight that people would be enjoying. They would watch a very desperate Islam endeavour to obtain a controlling place and take breath and they would see me with much spark to put him to sleep of which at the end I should be able to do, after all. Timelines are however problematic.
Topuria declared a retirement until at least April 2026 to pursue personal interests, and would not defend the lightweight division. It resulted in the UFC scheduling an interim lightweight title match between Justin Gaethje and Paddy Pimblett at UFC 324 on January 24, 2026 on T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
To Makhachev, the victory at UFC 322 gives him a two-division title but concerns over his pulling power remain amid the criticism of his style. Emerging threats in the welterweight include up-and-comers such as Shavkat Rakhmonov or a rematch with Della Maddalena, but the latter has lost its value. The women divisions too are not left out as the winning of Zhang Weili by Shevchenko led to the opening of doors to other contenders.
As the UFC enters its post-2025 environment, such as the change to streaming on Paramount+, the remarks by Topuria highlight a larger conflict between winning and entertaining. The audience is in need of a knockout and entertainment, and such fighters as Topuria position themselves as the remedy to “boring” grapplers.
As training camps to upcoming events are already in action, it is high time to get ready with 2026 to bring the spectacle MMA is worthy of. It is still not clear whether Makhachev vs. Topuria will ever become reality, however, since verbal insults have already served as a prelude to the true battle, it is evident that words can be as hard as fists in MMA. This continued epic may re-brand the champions in a new way taking the game to a new fan-friendly age.
