Natalia Silva claims vacant women’s flyweight title — Talbott TKOs Figueiredo at UFC 332

Natalia Silva is the new UFC women’s flyweight champion. On Saturday night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, she took a unanimous decision over Wang Cong for the vacant title to close UFC 332, finishing the numbered card after a main card that had already stacked first-round finishes before the five-round main event.

Main event — Silva UD Wang Cong

Silva defeated Wang Cong by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 49-46), according to UFC.com’s main-card results. It was a vacant women’s flyweight title fight. UFC’s recap named Silva the new champion — the fifth champion in the division’s history and the fourth woman to hold the belt — and noted she moved to 9-0 inside the Octagon.

UFC.com framed an early lead for Silva on varied striking and movement across the first two rounds, then a late push from Wang in the championship rounds without flipping the cards. The judges were needed for only the third time on the night; all three scored it for Silva.

UFC.com has caught up

Updated Oct. 6: UFC.com rankings caught up on Monday evening, Oct. 5, and now list Natalia Silva as women’s flyweight champion on both the media-panel and Meta boards; the Meta board has Valentina Shevchenko at No. 1. On Tuesday, Oct. 6, Silva’s athlete page added the Title Holder badge, with a bio line that she defeated Wang Cong at UFC 332 to become UFC flyweight champion. Results, rankings, and athlete page now agree.

Co-main — Talbott TKOs Figueiredo

Payton Talbott defeated Deiveson Figueiredo by TKO (strikes) at 2:09 of Round 1, per UFC.com. UFC’s recap described a right hand that put Figueiredo on the canvas early, then an elbow along the fence that opened the finish as Talbott stayed on him until the stoppage.

After the win, Talbott called for a fight with Sean O’Malley — a fighter ask, not a UFC booking. The men’s bantamweight title path on the calendar remains Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333 on Oct. 24.

Main card — Ribovics, Soldić, Kopylov

Esteban Ribovics stopped King Green by TKO (strikes) at 4:08 of Round 1. Ribovics had missed weight at 156.5 pounds on Friday; the bout proceeded anyway. UFC’s recap said Ribovics dropped Green multiple times late in the opening round before the stoppage.

Roberto Soldić, in his UFC debut, defeated Khaos Williams by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-27, 29-27). UFC.com’s recap framed a rusty opening round for Soldić, then dominant control on the feet and on the ground across the rest of the fight.

Roman Kopylov defeated Ateba Gautier by TKO (strikes) at 3:12 of Round 1 and earned Performance of the Night. UFC’s recap credited experience and clean punching, including a left that put Gautier on skates before the finish.

UFC.com’s main-card results noted that a trio of first-round finishes on the main card contributed to records for most first-round finishes (8) and most total knockouts (11) in UFC history — all before the main event.

Prelims — eight finishes, McGee’s last fight

On the prelims, Eric Nolan stopped Court McGee by TKO (strikes) at 3:26 of Round 3. UFC framed it as McGee’s final UFC fight and retirement. Ismail Naurdiev took a unanimous decision over Marvin Vettori (29-28, 29-28, 29-28). Alexander Hernandez stopped Rafael Dos Anjos by TKO (strikes) at 3:12 of Round 2. Jacobe Smith stopped Bruce Whitehead by TKO (ground-and-pound) at 1:32 of Round 1.

Johnny Walker knocked out Mick Parkin with a knee at 3:35 of Round 1 in his heavyweight debut and earned Performance of the Night. Anthony Wint stopped Lucas Armand by TKO (strikes) at 0:23 of Round 1. Marcus McGhee stopped Anthony Romero by TKO (strikes) at 4:58 of Round 1. Damian Pinas knocked out Andrey Pulyaev with an uppercut at 1:15 of Round 1 (Performance of the Night). Imanol Rodriguez stopped Alden Coria by TKO (body kick) at 3:11 of Round 1 (Performance of the Night).

UFC’s prelims recap noted eight of nine prelims finished inside the distance.

Bonuses and crowd

UFC.com’s bonus coverage awarded Performance of the Night to Johnny Walker, Roman Kopylov, Damian Pinas, and Imanol Rodriguez — four Performances; no Fight of the Night was listed on the bonus page. Attendance was 16,492.

Bottom line

Natalia Silva took the vacant women’s flyweight title by unanimous decision over Wang Cong and is the new champion on UFC’s results primary. Talbott finished Figueiredo in Round 1 of the co-main. UFC.com rankings and her athlete page now list Silva as champion.