With less than a month until the UFC's latest appearance in Salt Lake City, the event finally has a headlining fight.
Top-10 women's flyweight contenders Natalia Silva and Wang Cong have been scheduled for a title bout as UFC 332's main event, the promotion announced on Saturday.
Silva was supposed to take on 125-pound champ Valentina Shevchenko as the headlining fight from the Delta Centre on Oct. 3, but the incumbent had to pull out due to injury. On Saturday, the UFC revealed that Shevchenko has now vacated the title after being told she'd be unable to compete for a year due to the injury, opening the door for a matchup between Silva and Cong.
Shevchenko, a two-time women's flyweight champ, has held onto the belt since 2024. She started her second reign over the division with a unanimous decision win over Alexa Grasso at UFC 306, then successfully defended the belt twice against Manon Fiorot and Zhang Weili, but now relinquishes the belt.
Silva enters the title matchup riding an undefeated 8-0-0 start to her UFC career. The No. 1-ranked women's flyweight contender last fought in January, earning a unanimous decision win over former strawweight champ Rose Namajunas. Silva's rise up the ranks also includes wins over Jessica Andrade and Grasso.
Cong currently ranks sixth among 125-pounders and is in the midst of a four-fight win streak. She's only lost once since making her UFC debut in 2024, and is 5-1-0 under the banner. Her most recent victory came in July, beating Tracy Cortez (No. 10) via unanimous decision. Silva will immediately be the stiffest competition of Cong's UFC career to this point.
UFC 332 will also feature another ranked contender matchup for its co-main event, with No. 11-ranked bantamweight Payton Talbot taking on No. 9-ranked Deiveson Figueiredo.
It'll be the promotion's fifth visit to Salt Lake City, and first since UFC 307 in Oct. 2024.
