The UFC 332 main event is locked in for October 3 in Salt Lake City, and it’s a women’s flyweight title fight featuring Natalia Silva and Wang Cong. But let’s be real, the MMA community is already losing its mind over it. For nine straight years, since the division started in 2017, the legendary Valentina Shevchenko has been in every single title fight, a wild 13-bout streak. So when news dropped that Shevchenko vacated her belt, fans were straight up confused and disappointed. This whole situation has set the stage for Silva and Wang, who are now fighting for *the* title, no interim nonsense.
The Queen’s Shadow Lingers Over UFC 332
Shevchenko, the all-time great and two-time former champion, had to vacate her belt due to an undisclosed injury. Instead of creating the UFC’s first women’s interim belt, they decided to just move on entirely. That’s where the immediate questions and complaints started flooding in. Fans were asking, “What happened to Shevchenko? Is this the best the UFC has to offer?? This is a numbered event headliner?!?” The sentiment was already sour on women’s fights in 2026, and this just poured salt in the wound. It feels like Silva and Wang are stuck in an almost unfair position with all this negativity.
Contenders Stuck Between a Rock and a Hard Place
China’s Wang Cong, who sits at No. 6 in the official UFC flyweight rankings, is definitely seen as the one most out of place in this title picture, which weirdly makes her its biggest beneficiary. She told Uncrowned, through an interpreter, that she knew a title shot was next, even after beating Tracy Cortez in July and actually calling for a fight against veteran contender Manon Fiorot. Internal talks apparently started back in May, even before UFC Macau.
Natalia Silva, on the other hand, had been preparing for Shevchenko since she beat Rose Namajunas back in January. She told Uncrowned, also through an interpreter, that her goal was always to fight whoever had the belt. “My objective and my goal was to actually face Valentina if it was for a title,” Silva said. “There’s no frustration, no disappointment whatsoever. I wanted to fight for a title, and that’s what I’m fighting for, and that’s the only thing that matters.” You gotta respect that fire, but it doesn’t change the elephant in the room.
Is This Even a Real Title Fight?
Shevchenko’s absence is just impossible to ignore leading up to UFC 332. Maybe things will cool down once a new champ is crowned, but the problem, then, becomes the same issue Mackenzie Dern faces as the current strawweight titleholder in Zhang Weili’s absence: Are you really the champion if you didn’t beat the champion? It’s an awkward distinction, especially in a sport where titles are about lineage, not just shiny belts. Just like Dern hasn’t beaten Zhang, the winner of Saturday’s 125-pound title tilt will have to wait to do the same with Shevchenko. Wang believes a fight with Shevchenko is definitely in her future. But for now, the world will be watching on October 3 to see if a new champion can emerge from this undeniably weird situation.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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