It sounds incredible, but Wang Cong could be leaving UFC 332—and presumably heading into 2027—as the UFC flyweight champion.
This is the situation we find ourselves in with Wang taking on Natalia Silva in Saturday’s main event for a vacant belt, with the 125-pound division’s longtime queen Valentina Shevchenko abdicating her throne as she takes time off to deal with injuries. When Shevchenko returns is anyone’s guess, so Wang and Silva get their chance to permanently add their names to the championship
section of the UFC’s history books.
Wang joined the roster with some fanfare and announced herself to the masses with a 62-second knockout over professional enhancement talent Victoria Leonardo (who Silva has also demolished). She stumbled against Gabriella Fernandes in her sophomore outing, but has since rebounded with four straight wins, including a decision nod against Tracy Cortez, her first ranked opponent. Timing is everything in the UFC and just by hovering around the top 10, Wang made herself eligible for the opportunity of a lifetime.
Silva’s involvement in a headlining championship bout makes more sense. The Brazilian striker is coming off of consecutive wins over former titleholders Rose Namajunas, Alexa Grasso, and Jessica Andrade, and is yet to be defeated in eight UFC appearances. Overall, she has won 14 straight fights dating back to December 2017.
As thrown-together as this all is, either winner produces an intriguing matchup for Shevcheko, with Silva long being considered one of the best bets to take the torch, and Wang holding a past kickboxing win over “Bullet” that you’ll hear about ad nauseum should she score the upset victory Saturday.
In other main card action, Payton Talbott gets a chance to face a two-time UFC champion when he takes on Deiveson Figueiredo, ageless lightweight King Green fights Esteban Ribovics, Roberto Soldic makes his long-awaited UFC debut against Khaos Williams in a welterweight bout, and blue-chip middleweight prospect Ateba Gautier is put to the test by middleweight veteran Roman Kopylov.
What: UFC 332
Where: Delta Center in Salt Lake City
When: Saturday, Oct. 3. The five-fight early preliminary card begins at 4 p.m. ET, followed by a four-fight preliminary card at 6 p.m. ET. The five-fight main card begins at 8 p.m. ET with the entire event streaming live on Paramount+ and simulcast on CBS.
(Numbers in parentheses indicate standing in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings and Pound-for-Pound Rankings)
Natalia Silva (2, P4P-6) vs. Wang Cong (13)
Natalia Silva’s fighting style can understandably be frustrating for fans at times. She’s clearly a skilled striker, but is often content to do just enough to win exchanges while staying at a safe distance. Not exactly the stuff Fight of the Night awards are made of. But winning is winning, and Silva’s tactical approach is a major reason why she’s favored to complete her climb to the top.
On the other side, Wang Cong is no slouch when it comes to technique. Her extensive kickboxing background is evident whenever she steps in the cage, and her signature right hand presents a real problem for Silva. If this is a close fight as expected and the scoring comes down to a few fleeting moments of impact, those moments could belong to Wang.
In the end, I’m leaning towards Silva, because I think she has a slight edge in quickness and distance control. If Wang goes into bully mode then it’s a different story, but she has a habit of waiting to counter and letting her opponent make a mistake. Silva doesn’t make a lot of mistakes.
My confidence isn’t high with this one, but I’m going Silva.
Pick: Silva
Deiveson Figueiredo (11) vs. Payton Talbott
If Deiveson Figueiredo is just showing up to collect a paycheck, it could be a bad night for him.
It’s been disappointing to see Figueiredo go through the motions in recent losses to Song Yadong and Umar Nurmagomedov, and even his split decision win over Montel Jackson hardly invoked memories of the man who was once a berserker champion at flyweight. Talking to Guilherme Cruz about the state of Figueiredo, I realize he’s on an eerily similar career path to Jessica Andrade, another former champion in a lighter weight class that keeps trotting back out there despite dramatically diminishing returns.
Figueiredo still has name value and that’s the whole reason for this matchup. The UFC is eager to strap the rocket to Payton Talbott, but have wisely recalibrated their expectations for the 28-year-old after a revealing loss to Raoni Barcelos. He looked good against Henry Cejudo, also a champion once upon a time, and if he puts on a similar performance against Figueiredo, we could have a real stew going.
Talbott’s size and speed should more than make up for the experience and skill gap here, as I don’t see Figueiredo being able to pull the trigger nor absorb damage like he used to. Look for Talbott to pounce on Figueiredo early, setting the tone for a lopsided decision win.
Pick: Talbott
King Green vs. Esteban Ribovics
Finger wag of shame, Esteban Ribovics, for missing weight!
That’s bad for the vibes, especially when you consider I’m riding with a lot of the older fighters on this card. Court McGee (swan song!). Rafael dos Anjos. And, yes, King Green.
There’s no way to properly prepare for what Green brings to the table. By now, Green’s hands-all-the-way-down fighting style is ingrained in most fans’ brains, and there are few fighters in history who can do what he does with any degree of success (just ask Kennedy Nzechukwu). But more often than not, it works, and it’s kept the 40-year-old Green in the game and put him on a surprising four-fight win streak, his longest since 2014.
Ribovics has the potential to swarm Green. He’s a hulking lightweight who loves to come forward, and while that could lead to calamity, it could also give Green little room to operate. If Ribovics can cut off the cage, he’ll find openings to get creative with his striking and it’s in those moments of inspired chaos that he can catch Green.
I’m torn here, because Ribovics hasn’t had a chance to show off his one-punch power as his level of competition has increased, but it’s in there somewhere, and that could be Green’s undoing. Missing weight tells me Ribovics could be unfocused, though, and if you’re less than 100 percent mentally when you fight Green, he’ll expose you.
Green by upset knockout, because it’s fun.
Pick: Green
Roberto Soldic vs. Khaos Williams
I’ve written about this phenomenon before, so let me remind everyone: Khaos Williams only wins when he fights in May.
Here’s a diagram, if that helps:
It’s the strangest thing, but there was a stretch there where Williams only fought in May, popped up for a couple of wins, and then went back into hibernation. In 2025, he foolishly broke his pattern, suffering back-to-back losses against Andreas Gustafsson and Gabriel Bonfim, but he righted the ship by—surprise—booking a fight this past May and knocking out Nikolay Veretennikov inside of a round.
It’s just science, guys.
The bad news for Williams is that it’s not May, is it? Why would he even risk fighting outside of the 31 days where he is nigh-invulnerable? It makes no sense.
Also, Roberto Soldic is really awesome. Pound for pound, I firmly believe he’s one of the hardest hitters in the game. Let’s do ourselves a favor and forget about his bizarre three-year run with ONE, a complete waste of time for all involved.
Williams has never been finished via strikes, but I feel like today is the day. It isn’t May, after all.
Pick: Soldic
Ateba Gautier vs. Roman Kopylov
We’ve learned a lot about Ateba Gautier in his past two fights and the data is mostly positive. His power is no secret, but he showed patience in his fight with Andrey Pulyaev, even if it was a far from dominant performance. Those are the kinds of growing pains that can only make him better, and that was evident in his subsequent fight with Ozzy Diaz in which he got back to his finishing ways.
Gautier isn’t just a one-shot slugger, he works in combinations and uses his left hand well to close the distance. Add in his physical tools and he’s well on his way to becoming a contender.
Roman Kopylov is experienced and resilient, but he has had his issues dealing with power punchers. Even though Kopylov entered the UFC with a reputation as a knockout artist, it hasn’t always gone his way when he engages in a firefight. He has a chin on him, though, and he knows how to battle through adversity, so this should be another three-round test for Gautier.
I’m high on Gautier, so I see him consistently beating Kopylov to the punch and threatening a finish before eventually settling for a win on the cards.
Pick: Gautier
Preliminaries
Alden Coria def. Imanol Rodriguez
Damian Pinas def. Andrey Pulyaev
Marcus McGhee def. Anthony Romero
Anthony Wint def. Lucas Armand
Johnny Walker def. Mick Parkin
Rafael dos Anjos def. Alexander Hernandez
Marvin Vettori def. Ismail Naurdiev
Jacobe Smith def. Bruce Whitehead
Court McGee def. Eric Nolan
