Incredible lightweight fight joins stacked UFC 322 lineup for Madison Square Garden

Originally posted on MMA on SI | By Drew Beaupre | Last updated Sep 28, 2025 9:47 AM ET

(Zuffa LLC)

Top-ranked lightweight contenders Benoit Saint-Denis and Beneil Dariush are reportedly set to meet at UFC 322.

Scheduled to take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 11, UFC 322 is topped by a pair of title bouts that while see Islam Makhachev and Weili Zhang both try to claim belts in new weight classes when they move up to face Jack Della Maddalena and Valentina Shevchenko.

The UFC always makes an effort to stack its annual show at Madison Square Garden, and RMC Sport Combat reports that the card has added a massive lightweight fight between Dariush and Saint-Denis.

Benoit Saint-Denis Seeks Third-Straight Win At UFC 322

Currently the UFC’s #13-ranked lightweight contender, Saint-Denis is riding high after picking up a huge submission-win over Mauricio Ruffy in the co-main event of UFC Paris.

The result marked the first time that Ruffy has lost since joining the UFC, and Saint-Denis was also able to return to France and pick up a huge win in his home country after he was stopped by Renato Moicano in the headlining fight for last year’s edition of UFC Paris.

Per Haljestam-Imagn Images

“God of War” stormed into the lightweight rankings with a five-fight win streak where he finished every opponent he faced before running into former interim lightweight titleholder Dustin Poirier at UFC 299. Saint-Denis was stopped by Moicano at UFC Paris six months later, but he submitted Kyle Prepolec at UFC 315 in May and now carries the momentum of back-to-back wins after defeating Ruffy.

Beneil Dariush Snapped Losing Skid At UFC 317

Standing across from Saint-Denis at UFC 322 will be the #9-ranked Dariush, who made his UFC debut as an undefeated prospect all the way back in 2014.

A win over Thiago Moises in 2018 kicked off what eventually turned into an eight-fight win streak that had “Benny” on the cusp of his first crack at UFC gold. Those hopes were derailed at UFC 289 when he was knocked out by former lightweight king Charles Oliveira, and he closed out 2023 with another first-round loss when he took on current #2-ranked lightweight contender Arman Tsarukyan in a UFC Fight Night main event.

Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

The 36-year-old took some time off following those losses before returning to take a unanimous decision against the aforementioned Moicano in June, and now his next outing against Saint-Denis will feature as part of a stacked UFC 322 card that is currently shaping up like this:

UFC 322 Fight 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

• Erin Blanchfield vs. Tracy Cortez

• Leon Edwards vs. Carlos Prates

• Baisangur Susurkaev vs. Eric McConico

• Angela Hill vs. Fatima Kline

• Gerald Meerschaert vs. Kyle Daukaus

• Bo Nickal vs. Rodolfo Vieira

• Roman Kopylov vs. Gregory Rodrigues

• Beneil Dariush vs. Benoit Saint-Denis