One week removed from winning his first regional MMA title, Ethyn Ewing is set to make his Octagon debut on extremely short notice at UFC 322.
Set to take place at New York City’s iconic Madison Square Garden, UFC 322 is topped by a pair of massive title bouts that will see Islam Makhachev and Weili Zhang both try to claim UFC belts in new weight classes when they challenge Jack Della Maddalena and Valentina Shevchenko.
The rest of the card is stacked with plenty of intriguing fights, but a scheduled prelim bout between Cody Haddon and Malcolm Wellmaker did undergo a major change the night before weigh-ins when Haddon was forced off UFC 322 due to injury.
Ethyn Ewing Set For UFC Debut At Madison Square Garden
First reported by Marcel Dorff, Ewing steps in to replace Haddon for a massive opportunity in his short-notice UFC debut.
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Like UFC 322 headliner Della Maddalena, Ewing’s pro career got off to an inauspicious start when he dropped his first two bouts in 2020 and 2022. Those results came after a perfect 6-0 amateur career, and in early 2023 he returned to action and scored a 15-second finish to mark his first pro victory.
The 27-year-old has been perfect since then, winning eight-straight fights and stopping all but one of his opponents during that span. Ewing was in action last weekend in the main event of Urijah Faber’s A1 Combat 32, where he knocked out Billy Brand (who lost to Haddon on Dana White’s Contender Series last year) in the first round to win the promotion’s interim bantamweight belt.
Malcolm Wellmaker Looks To Extend KO Streak At UFC 322
Making an astonishingly quick turnaround for his Octagon debut, Ewing will be fighting up a weight class at UFC 322 when he takes on the undefeated Wellmaker.
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A contract winner on Dana White’s Contender Series last year, Wellmaker has already established himself as a featherweight talent worth watching after just two UFC appearances. “The Machine” debuted with a first-round knockout of Cameron Saaiman in April before he also finished Kris Moutinho in the opening frame in June, earning himself “Performance of the Night” bonuses for both of those victories.
Malcolm Wellmaker (red gloves) reacts after defeating Cameron Saaiman (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at T-Mobile Center. | William Purnell-Imagn Images
With Ewing stepping in to replace Haddon, UFC 322 remains at full capacity with 14 scheduled fights set to take place at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.
UFC 322 Main Card
• Main Event: Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev – For the UFC Welterweight Championship
• Co-Main Event: Valentina Shevchenko vs. Weili Zhang – For the UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship
• Sean Brady vs. Michael Morales
• Leon Edwards vs. Carlos Prates
• Beneil Dariush vs. Benoit Saint-Denis
UFC 322 Preliminary Card
• Bo Nickal vs. Rodolfo Vieira
• Roman Kopylov vs. Gregory Rodrigues
• Erin Blanchfield vs. Tracy Cortez
• Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Ethyn Ewing
UFC 322 Early Preliminary Card
• Gerald Meerschaert vs. Kyle Daukaus
• Chepe Mariscal vs. Pat Sabatini
• Angela Hill vs. Fatima Kline
• Baisangur Susurkaev vs. Eric McConico
• Viacheslav Borshchev vs. Matheus Camilo
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