SALT LAKE CITY — New UFC flyweight champion Natalia Silva has told former queen Valentina Shevchenko to get in line after claiming the vacant 125-pound belt with a unanimous decision victory over Wang Cong in the main event of UFC 332 in Utah on Saturday. Silva improved to 9-0 with the win and now holds the title vacated after Shevchenko suffered an injury.
Shevchenko, silent since the UFC announced she was no longer champion, broke her silence after the fight, writing: “It’s my pleasure to know that UFC champion’s belt is now holding deserving martial artist — such as you are. But don’t get too comfortable— keep it warm, I’m coming soon for my belt!” Silva thanked her but was quick to clap back in an interview with MMA Fighting. “First of all, thank you. It’s nice that she had time to watch the fight, right?” Silva laughed. “[Nice that you had time to] follow the division, to see what’s going on in the division.” She added: “The first thing she already got wrong in that post was talking about how the belt is hers. ‘My belt. I’m going to get my belt.’ The belt isn’t hers anymore, the belt is mine. I’m the champion. I fought for this, I earned it, so I’m the champion now. And as far as keeping the belt warm, she doesn’t need to worry because I’m going to take very good care of it.”
Silva continued: “She wasn’t even keeping it warm herself. She would take a year between fights. She was fighting once a year, and now she’s talking about keeping the belt warm?” Shevchenko last defended the title in November 2025, beating Zhang Weili via decision to stop the Chinese star becoming a two-division titleholder. At that time Silva was coming off victories over ex-champions Jessica Andrade and Alexa Grasso, and only re-entered the cage two months later against Rose Namajunas once it became clear Shevchenko would take longer to defend the belt — which she did not do in the end. Unbeaten for nine years, Silva said she will not wait for Shevchenko for her first defence. “I want to fight soon,” Silva said. “I don’t want to sit around. I like fighting. I haven’t gotten injured, I don’t get injured in my fights, so I want to take advantage of my youth, right? I want to fight more frequently. I believe that by the beginning of the year, in the first half of the year, I’ll already want to be fighting.”
“To be honest, I’m not worried about Valentina anymore,” she added. “I wanted to fight her because she was the champion, because she had what I wanted, she had the belt. Now, whether it’s her or someone else, it doesn’t matter anymore. I’m the champion now, and I’m the one who has to defend the title. If she wants to fight when she comes back, and there isn’t another fight that needs to happen, we can fight, but we also have to look at the rankings and the queue because there are some girls who are doing really well and deserve to be fighting, you know?” The Brazilian cited Alexa Grasso and Erin Blanchfield as potential contenders in the first quarter of 2027, adding “the division is full of tough, talented girls, and I’m here to fight and defend the title” against anyone. For now she wants to celebrate and hopes to defend at home, having never fought in the UFC in Brazil. “Wow, that would be great,” Silva said. “Imagine having a fight here in Brazil? My Brazilian fans ask for that all the time, for me to fight at home. Imagine that crowd, wow, going crazy, all that adrenaline." The victory follows Natalia Silva's vacant title victory over Wang Cong that has reignited debate over the flyweight hierarchy.