UFC 332 is set for Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Sat. night (Oct. 3, 2026) with the preliminary card streaming on Paramount+, followed by the main card on the CBS network — home to this 2008 record breaker
. There exists a subset of combat sports fans who remain puzzled as to why a fight card with little-to-no star power managed to find its way onto over-the-air television, so let’s start there.Paramount bought UFC for more than $7 billion to drive subscriptions to Paramount+ and you do that
with bangers like UFC White House. Nobody is signing up for a new subscription service to watch Natalia Silva and Wang Cong compete for the vacant flyweight title. Remember that old saying, you get what you pay for? You pay nothing extra for the UFC 332 main card, so you get nothing extra in return.
But does UFC 332 feature the worst main event in history?
“This is hands down — and I’m not exaggerating — the worst main event in MMA history,” former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub said on his Big Brown Breakdown. “Wang Cong should never be headlining a card and shouldn’t be fighting for a title. I just want to know who was like, ‘I’ve got it! Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong!’ Did everyone in that room say, ‘That’s sick!’ Because if they did, they should all be out of a job. It is so disheartening that this is the main event, and UFC is like, ‘You ain’t gonna do s—t.’ There should be some sort of repercussion for this. If I’m Utah, I wouldn’t have paid for this.”
How many main events was Schaub in?
Just one — and he got knocked the f—k out by a country bumpkin with a 52” waist.
If you wanna talk about brutal main events, let’s start with Cynthia Calvillo vs. Jessica Eye atop UFC Vegas 2 in June 2020, with Marvin Vettori and Karl Roberson co-headlining at catchweight. Wanna focus on numbered events? Newer fans won’t remember the outrage over UFC 177, topped by TJ Dillashaw vs. Joe Soto, or UFC 149 with Urijah Faber fighting Renan Barao in the main event.
UFC made us pay $50 for that crap.
Dana White admitted he was “embarrassed” by the UFC 149 fight card because it “sucked” and represented “the lowest of the low.” Fans were even chanting “Refund! Refund!” throughout the night. We don’t yet know if UFC 332 sucks because the fighters have not been given a chance to compete. Let’s also recognize the fact that toxic UFC fans have a tendency to shit on everything and everyone.
Remember when UFC 288 was too “horrifying” for pay-per-view (PPV)?
Silva vs. Wang was not the promotion’s first choice but it’s all that was left by the time the deadline to book came around. But the real question is, why does it even matter? If you swapped the super fun UFC Qatar lineup with the UFC 332 card, what’s the difference? Everything airs on Paramount+ or CBS, regardless if it’s a numbered event, an international “Fight Night” show, or a Meta Apex offering.
The only fans with a right to complain are ticket holders in Salt Lake City.
I’m sure it’s disappointing to wait two years for another live UFC card, only to go from Alex Pereira vs. Khalil Rountree Jr. to Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong. But hey, a Johnny Utah and Leisurebrau from Proper Burger followed by a Strawberry Shortcake at Brucie’s Berries is a tasty consolation prize. Just watch out for those long bathroom lines on the main concourse level (near portals D, G, T, and Y).
UFC 332 is mediocre. But can we stop acting like it’s a crime against MMA fans?
Now that we got that out of the way, let’s pick some main card winners.
125 lbs.: Natalia Silva (20-5-1) vs. Cong Wang (10-1) for vacant flyweight championship
Most UFC fans only know Cong Wang (+170) as the joker-painted newcomer who frequents the UFC prelims, but Wang holds a victory over Valentina Shevchenko from their kickboxing days on the international circuit. If Wang can replicate the performance Rose Namajunas had against Natalia Silva (-205) then she has a real shot at outpointing the Brazilian. Silva is the fastest fighter in the division but doesn’t seem to know how to fully use it to her advantage, which is why she’s gone to a decision in her last five fights. I think she overwhelms Wang in the first two rounds, then slows down and gets pieced up for the second half of the fight. Expect a close call on the judges’ scorecards, but I like Wang via matador defense.
Pick: Wang def. Silva by decision
135 lbs.: Deiveson Figueiredo (25-7-1) vs. Payton Talbott (11-1)
Deiveson Figueiredo (+525) turns 39 in a couple of weeks and has now dropped four of his last five. Granted, his competition has been the absolute best in the world, but it also established a clear ceiling for the Brazilian, who is too small for bantamweight and too fat for flyweight. I don’t think Payton Talbott (-750) is the 135-pound savior the promotion was hoping for, but we also haven’t seen him fighting anyone meaningful. Henry Cejudo was way past his prime at UFC 323 and that’s a great comparison for this fight. Talbott gets to beat up another former champion who used to be somebody but is now just overstaying his welcome because nobody has the heart to tell him it’s time to leave.
Pick: Talbott def. Figueiredo by submission
185 lbs.: Ateba Gautier (11-1) vs. Roman Kopylov (15-5)
Ateba Gautier (-250) looks terrifying and has destroyed nine of 11 victims by way of knockout. They call him “Mini Ngannou” for a reason (aside from their mutual ties to Cameroon) but the knockout is not a foregone conclusion, as we saw against Andrey Pulyaev at UFC 324. Roman Kopylov (+205) is being referred to as the toughest test of Gautier’s career and that’s being generous, considering the Russian has come up short against heavy hitters like Paulo Costa and Gregory Rodrigues. Are we breaking out the party hats for a finish over Chris Curtis? Granted, Kopylov has never been knocked out in his MMA career but that doesn’t mean anything against an opponent with the power of Gautier and I think it’s just a matter of time before Kopylov gets clipped.
Pick: Gautier def. Kopylov by knockout
155 lbs.: King Green (36-17-1, 1 NC) vs. Esteban Ribovics (16-3)
King Green (+190) turned 40 years old last month but certainly doesn’t look it, rattling off four straight wins with three nasty finishes. Losing performances against Paddy Pimblett and Mauricio Ruffy were a reminder that he’s got no business at the top half of the division, but something tells me Green is more than content to put the hurt on middle-of-the-pack lightweights with no championship future. Does Esteban Ribovics (-230) fall into that category? “El Gringo” graduated Dana White’s “Contender Series” back in 2022 and has been consistently inconsistent. I don’t want to put too much stock into his victory over Edson Barboza because the Brazilian was long past his expiration date, and I think Green is too experienced — and has too much momentum — to lose this fight. That’s assuming he doesn’t do something Green-ish like recklessly walk into a counter hook.
Pick: Green def. Ribovics by knockout
170 lbs.: Kalinn Williams (16-5) vs. Roberto Soldic (21-4)
Kalinn Williams (+205) has been in the promotion for over six years and remains unranked at 170 pounds, which should tell you everything you need to know about his current trajectory and why he was selected to fight Roberto Soldic (-205) at UFC 332. Williams is a striker and so is Soldic, so if the Croat is the same killer who knocked out Dricus du Plessis back in 2018, the division is about to get a lot more interesting. To his credit, Williams has never been knocked out but has five knockouts of his own under the UFC banner. A win for Soldic won’t announce “Robocop” as an immediate title contender, but it will definitely establish him as a worthy addition to the 170-pound roster. I wouldn’t call this a confident pick in light of all these upsets in recent weeks, but I think Soldic uses patience and technical striking to cruise to a sweep on the judges’ scorecards.
Pick: Soldic def. Williams by unanimous decision
For much more on this weekend’s UFC 332 event in Salt Lake City click here.
