Malcolm Wellmaker will get his change to fight in “The World’s Most Famous Arena” after all.
The UFC has found a replacement opponent to face Wellmaker for his return at UFC 322 – which is scheduled to go down on Nov. 15 at Madison Square Garden in New York. Wellmaker’s original rival, Serhiy Sidey, was forced out of the card due to undisclosed reasons, and stepping in will be Cody Haddon.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie of the new booking on Thursday. The people requested anonymity because the promotion has yet to make an official announcement.
Despite being already 31, Wellmaker (10-0 MMA, 2-0 UFC) is regarded as a prospect at bantamweight. He remains unbeaten in his MMA career, with six of his 10 wins coming by knockout or TKO. In his last outing back in June, Wellmaker made quick work of Kris Moutinho, knocking him out in Round 1. In his two UFC fights, he’s won $50,000 bonuses for Performance of the Night.
Australia’s Haddon (8-1 MMA, 1-0 UFC) entered the UFC through last year’s season of Dana White’s Contender Series. He debuted a few months later in October 2024, defeating Dan Argueta in a unanimous decision. He hasn’t fought since. Haddon’s only professional defeat came against former UFC title challenger Steve Erceg in the regional circuit of Australia, losing by unanimous decision.
The latest UFC 322 lineup now includes:
- Jack Della Maddalena vs. Islam Makhachev
- Valentina Shevchenko vs. Zhang Weili
- Leon Edwards vs. Carlos Prates
- Beneil Dariush vs. Benoit Saint Denis
- Erin Blanchfield vs. Tracy Cortez
- Bo Nickal vs. Rodolfo Vieira
- Roman Kopylov vs. Gregory Rodrigues
- Eric McConico vs. Baisangur Susurkaev
- Kyle Daukaus vs. Gerald Meerschaert
- Fatima Kline vs. Angela Hill
- Malcolm Wellmaker vs. Cody Haddon
