The women's flyweight title will be decided in Salt Lake City on 3 October, with Natalia Silva and Wang Cong meeting for a belt that no longer has a holder. Valentina Shevchenko told the promotion she would be unable to compete for at least a year, and the division has not waited.
UFC 332 takes place at the Delta Center, with the fight headlining and airing on CBS and Paramount+.
Silva arrives on a fourteen-fight run
Silva has not lost in fourteen fights, and the last three are the ones that made this booking inevitable: wins over Rose Namajunas, Alexa Grasso and Jessica Andrade, all of whom have held or contested a title. That is not a run built on favourable matchmaking, and it is difficult to construct an argument for anyone else having a stronger claim.
Wang has won four straight
Wang Cong comes in on four consecutive wins in the Octagon, most recently over Tracy Cortez at UFC 329 in July. Four straight in a division this shallow at the top is enough to be next in line, and the timing has done the rest.
What a vacant title changes
A vacant-title fight is a different proposition to a challenge. There is no champion's advantage, no incumbent to take the belt from, and no draw that lets anyone keep it — the two fighters start level, which tends to produce a more open fight than a title defence does.
It also settles the division rather than pausing it. A year is a long time to hold a belt in abeyance, and the alternative was an interim title and the tangle that usually follows one.
The rest of the card
Deiveson Figueiredo, a former flyweight champion now competing at bantamweight, meets Payton Talbott in the co-main event.
Booking and card details as announced by the promotion. Cards change; check the event page before fight night.