SALT LAKE CITY — Natalia Silva is the new UFC women's flyweight champion after edging Wang Cong by decision over 25 minutes to claim the vacant 125-pound title at UFC 332 on Saturday night in Salt Lake City. Silva used her trademark style to secure the decision and remain undefeated in the UFC, capturing the belt on a night where the division's undisputed status was immediately questioned.
The victory sparked a roundtable debate over whether Silva can be considered the true champion while Valentina Shevchenko — described as the divisional GOAT and future Hall of Famer — remains absent. One panellist said there is "no world where I'm jumping Silva over Shevchenko in the rankings," noting Shevchenko "hasn't even been out for a year yet" and "didn't lose her second title in the cage." By their rankings system, Shevchenko would need to be out for another seven months before being removed from the top spot, and Silva is unlikely to defend before she returns.
Others acknowledged Silva earned her opportunity, with one noting she "was the fighter who deserved to have her day in court against Valentina Shevchenko, and now that fight just added a little bit of extra with Val chasing," while adding she will "go down in history as a world champion" but cannot realistically be called the best woman in the world at 125 pounds while Shevchenko exists. Taking the contrarian view, Jed Meshew argued Silva is the true flyweight champion because Shevchenko isn't coming back, suggesting "Bullet" has already lapped the division and that her future lies in fighting the winner of Kayla Harrison vs Amanda Nunes.
The UFC 332 report also assessed bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott, who has rebounded from a defeat to Raoni Barcelos with back-to-back wins over former champions Henry Cejudo and Deiveson Figueiredo. Panellists agreed Talbott has the size, speed and striking acumen to develop into a legitimate contender, but cautioned that Cejudo was on his way out of the sport and Figueiredo has looked like a shell of himself as a very undersized bantamweight, leaving doubts over whether Talbott would be favoured against anyone in the top 10 including his preferred callout Sean O'Malley.
For now Silva holds the belt and the leverage for a future showdown with Shevchenko that would settle the question of undisputed status at flyweight. The debate follows Wang Cong's eye poke statement following her title loss at UFC 332.