Last night (Sat., Oct. 3, 2026), Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) ventured forth to Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah for UFC 332. As it turned out, the heavily maligned numbered event — which also aired on CBS — turned out to be a rather fun night of fights! Even without much name value on the line, the athletes consistently came to fight and put on a show. In addition, a new Flyweight champion was crowned, setting the tone for the division’s future in a potentially Valentina Shevchenko-less
field.
Let’s take a closer look at the best performances and highlight finishes of the evening:
Flyweight’s Future Decided
Natalia Silva was so much faster than Wang Cong at the start of the fight.
Cong would step forward to punch or kick and before she even completed that initial offering, Silva would throw three punches or interrupt her outright with a side kick. Cong couldn’t help but walk into left hooks repeatedly, as Silva was just getting her weapon to the target with unmatched quickness. She also did good work in using wrestling to stall Cong then breaking away with her own offense.
Cong started to build a bit of success in the second, landing some chopping low kicks and right hands. Before she could build any momentum, however, Silva floored her with a sneaky lead leg high kick. That was a major setback to her progress and ultimately loomed large over the eventual outcome of the fight.
By round three, the fight was competitive. In the fourth and fifth, Cong’s pressure and low kicks added up to the point that she was landing the better shots, effectively cornering Silva along the fence more often. Silva still threw back, but she was wearing it after the final 10 minutes. The main event didn’t have the knockdowns or dramatic momentum shifts of an instant classic, but it was a reasonably fun and competitive battle for all five rounds.
As a result of her strong start, Silva walked away with UFC gold. She’s once again lined up for a showdown with Shevchenko, only now she’ll do so as defending champion. Although, the timeline for Shevchenko’s return is unclear, so maybe there’s time for an Alexa Grasso rematch or Erin Blanchfield title shot before then.
Payton Talbott, Future Champion
I don’t mean to go full hipster, but I’ve been sold on Payton Talbott for longer than the rest of you! When he knocked out two of my friends on the regional scene in 2022, it was immediately obvious that the random kid from Reno was an incredible talent — particularly if you were watching his violence unfold cageside.
Four years later, Talbott is still utterly destroying his opposition, they just so happen to be former UFC champions now. Talbott treated Deiveson Figueiredo like an amateur, walking him down and lancing him with long range, powerful strikes. “Figgy” is famously tough and durable, yet he dropped repeatedly and looked haggard just 90 seconds into the contest.
Talbott might be the sport’s most effective snowball right now. Give him even an inch, and he’s suddenly gaining an irreversible amount of momentum. He hits any available target from every range, keeping his foot on the gas and breaking down his opponents in record time.
He’s one of the best Bantamweights in the world right now. The Raoni Barcelos loss was a necessary lesson, but it’s been most of two years, and Talbott has improved massively since then. He called out Sean O’Malley, and that’s the kind of matchup he deserves.
I doubt the UFC will book it though … but maybe Mario Bautista will sign the dotted line?
Fall of the King
King Green’s incredible 2026 run came to an end at the hands of Esteban Ribovics.
Green had his moments. He used his jabs and front kicks to settle down Ribovics after a chaotic opening minute, and then he started connecting. Green was faking and feinting to freeze his foe, then he would crack him with a straight punch that split the guard. He was building momentum and looking sharp.
The problem is that Ribovics is a decade younger and kept his eyes on the prize. He didn’t get pushed off course by Green’s antics or success. Even when Ribovics missed badly, he would continue to extend his combination and chase after the veteran. Late in the first, he found the mark, flooring Green close to the fence with his fifth punch of a combination.
Once Ribovics had his opponent hurt, he didn’t let up. He ended up dropping Green three times, and the third knockdown arrived right when it seemed like Green might survive the round. Instead, the referee moved in to save him from further damage.
Win or lose, both Lightweights are some of the most exciting, must-watch fighters on the roster.
Kopylov Defies The Odds
Roman Kopylov just destroyed Ateba Gautier.
Gautier is an outrageous athlete with massive power, which is a problem for all sorts of MMA fighters. However, one of the best possible solutions to overcome raw athleticism is pure kickboxing skill. Few MMA fighters are truly comfortable when knockout punches are flying in their direction. As such, Gautier is accustomed to bullying his opponents, making them uncomfortable in exchanges. If they try to wrestle, his physical strength makes that a difficult play, particularly from the back foot.
Kopylov never grew flustered, however. He maintained his distance, stabbed at Gautier with kicks and straight punches, and forced Gautier’s footwork to come into the limelight. When faced with smart distance hitting and dangerous counter punches, Gautier couldn’t just bully his way forward — no amount of muscle lets a fighter walk through shots painlessly.
Gautier quickly found himself stuck at a distance he didn’t have the tools to navigate. If he pushed forward, he was countered, and if he hung back, he was getting picked apart. The damage added up, and a left hand sat him down for his first UFC loss midway through the first round.
Credit to Kopylov: it takes bravery and experience to remain composed in front of a big hitter like Gautier. As a result of his moxie, he just picked up the best win of his career in a near-flawless victory!
A Future Flyweight Contender
Imanol Rodriguez is the real deal.
Against a fellow top prospect in Alden Coria, Rodriguez separated himself as a possible future champion. From the first bell, Coria was outright shocked by his opponent’s speed and power. Each time Rodriguez exploded forward, Coria withdrew, unsure how to answer the offense coming at him. For context, Coria is the more experienced fighter and has a trio of UFC wins already.
“Himan” is just that dangerous.
Before too long, he was landing. Every punch that connected hurt, but then Rodriguez stabbed a brilliant front kick right through the middle of Coria that produced a scream in the cage. Coria crumbled, and Rodriguez picked up just his seventh professional win at a mere 26 years of age. Based on his athleticism and growth, Rodriguez has an extremely bright future ahead of him.
Pinas Power
Damian Pinas hits so hard.
There’s nothing else to be said. Andrey Pulyaev went three rounds with a noted knockout artist in Ateba Gautier, and then Pinas utterly destroyed him with a single uppercut. Pinas is not over-swinging either; this is innate, outrageous power. He’s certainly earned a shot at a ranked opponent after a trio of ridiculous knockout wins.
On the flip side, I kind of feel bad for Pulyaev. UFC keeps throwing him in the cage with blue-chip prospects or far more experienced opponents. There’s lots of slop available at 185 pounds — give him a more reasonable opponent at least once!
A Long Overdue Move
I have been arguing for Johnny Walker to move to Heavyweight since 2022.
His extended Light Heavyweight stay never made any sense. Absolutely gigantic for the division, Walker was killing himself to make weight and is also famously chinny — perhaps there’s a correlation there?!? Furthermore, it was clear years ago that Walker was not a true title threat at 205 pounds, so why spend so much time in absolute misery dieting and cutting weight?
Opposite Mick Parkin, Walker looked at home in his new weight class (where he fought for years in Brazil prior to joining the UFC). He was not significantly smaller than Parkin, a highly-touted up-and-comer with just a single previous loss on his record. After a slow start, Walker grabbed onto a double-collar tie and erased Parkin with a brutal knee in the very first round. Clearly, the power has translated into his new division!
I’m not saying Walker will go on to win Heavyweight gold, but this is a much better home for the wacky Brazilian knockout artist.
The Frightening Rise of Jacobe Smith Continues
There are still a lot of unknowns surrounding Jacobe Smith, an All-American wrestler who advanced to 13-0 with his win over short-notice replacement Bruce Whitehead. For example, what happens if somebody stops his takedowns or drags his fights long? He’s the exact kind of wildly explosive athlete that one would expect to slow down if forced to work hard in a long, grinding fight.
That’s all hypothetical though. What we DO know is that Smith has frightening ground strikes and elite athleticism. Whitehead was holding his own with Smith for a moment, and yet he was unconscious within 15 seconds of getting taken down. Short, seemingly innocuous punches from Smith are turning off the lights. It’s both hugely impressive and genuinely shocking.
It’s going to be a lot of fun to watch Smith try his hand versus a ranked opponent in the near future.
RDA Turns Back The Clock … For One Round
For about four minutes and 55 seconds, Rafael dos Anjos was back.
“RDA,” who turns 42 in a few weeks, bullied Alexander Hernandez with his trademark pressure and southpaw combination striking. He backed the younger man to the fence and forced him to frantically switch directions. Hernandez has developed into a solid counter puncher, but he was still flustered by dos Anjos’ accurate punching and excellent cage-cutting. A couple body kicks left a visible imprint of a shin across Hernandez’s torso. There were a couple moments where dos Anjos saw a shot coming, slipped his head off line, and ripped a powerful overhand or right hook to the body. In those instances, it really felt like the exact man who dominated Anthony Pettis was back in the Octagon.
Sadly, it’s not 2015 anymore.
In the closing seconds of the first, Hernandez timed dos Anjos with a right hand that hurt the former champion. From there, Hernandez looked for his right hand counter with a renewed confidence. A southpaw jab dropped “RDA” early in round two, then Hernandez knocked him out a couple minutes later when the Brazilian tried to regain his footing along the fence.
At his age, it’s no surprise that dos Anjos couldn’t really recover from getting rocked. He took his gloves off in the cage, and I hope the Brazilian legend sticks to retirement moving forward. While he has nothing left to prove, it was still quite nice to enjoy a round of vintage Rafael dos Anjos pressure fighting one last time.
Additional Thoughts
- Roberto Soldic defeats Khaos Williams via unanimous decision: Soldic, who had been away from the cage for nearly 600 days, was a little rusty at the start of his UFC debut. He was slow to react to shots and got stunned a couple times. Once he warmed up, however, the vintage violence of Croatia’s “Robocop” was on display. He beat the absolute crap out of Williams, hitting the body repeatedly and then building combinations in gorgeous fashion. Soldic unloaded dozens of power shots on Williams’ face, who was unwittingly forced to display his toughness and iron chin. In short, Soldic lived up to his slugger reputation and will surely be part of many bloody Octagon wars in the future!
- Marcus McGhee defeats Anthony Romero via first-round knockout: This was a bit of a strange booking due to an injury that canned the original matchup, but it was fun nevertheless. Romero brought the fight to McGhee and was intent on scoring the upset. He landed some solid left hands and showed off good boxing skills early, but McGhee soon proved himself the sharper man. After taking half a round to find his timing, McGhee floored Romero with a jab and then kept the pressure on. He started tagging the newcomer repeatedly, leading to a stoppage at the end of the first frame. Now 6-1 in the UFC with his sole defeat coming to Petr Yan, McGhee should be a ranked fighter competing versus other ranked Bantamweights.
- Anthony Wint defeats Lucas Armand via first-round knockout: Wint improved to 9-0 by winning via knockout in seconds. It’s his third victory in the last two months. The question is how impressed should we be? From my perspective, Wint crushed a trio of tomato cans who were brought in specifically to be destroyed — these were not established UFC Heavyweights. As low as that bar is, I would like to see Wint face an opponent with even a single UFC win next. Perhaps he is in fact the future of the division … and perhaps not!
- Eric Nolan defeats Court McGee via third-round knockout (highlights): Nolan had all the advantages on his side — youth, size, and boxing fluidity — but 41-year-old McGee made him work for every second of this victory. In fact, McGee won a lot of the exchanges, jabbing up the younger man. However, the power and speed difference was simply massive. McGee could hit Nolan three times, and it wouldn’t have the impact of a glancing Nolan overhand. That power disparity was too much for the veteran, who was dropped late in the first round by an elbow. Then, the right hand Nolan was frequently whiffing on finally caught McGee flush in the third, and “Crusher” just couldn’t bounce back. McGee tried to hang tough in the face of an endless flurry, but a final right hand found the chin and sent McGee out on his shield.
