Natalia Silva is the UFC women’s flyweight champion. She won the vacant belt at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City on Saturday, beating Wang Cong by unanimous decision. The scorecards read 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46.
Silva improved to 9-0 in the UFC. Now comes the harder part, choosing who she fights next.
How she won it
Silva landed 109 significant strikes to Wang’s 98 and scored three takedowns. A second-round head kick knockdown was the pivotal moment. Wang rallied in the fifth round and hurt her, but it was too late to change the cards.
The title was vacant because Valentina Shevchenko stepped away with an injury, and reports say she faces a long absence. Silva’s claim is strong anyway. She owns wins over Jessica Andrade, Alexa Grasso and Rose Namajunas, all former champions.
After the fight she said, “This is the beginning of the time of Natalia Silva. I’m the new queen.” She also said she wants to be an active champion.
What she should do
If she means it about staying active, Silva should take the next serious contender and not wait on anyone. That means the winner of Erin Blanchfield and Jasmine Jasudavicius, the matchup Bleacher Report pointed to as the next title-level fight. Winning it keeps the division moving and gives her a defense inside a few months.
The Grasso rematch is the wrong call. Silva already beat her, and a repeat does nothing for her case. Grasso is coming off a September win over Manon Fiorot, so she will stay in the picture, but she has to earn a second look.
Shevchenko is the fight that eventually settles the legitimacy debate. Bleacher Report noted there will be questions about the title run until Silva faces her. But a champion cannot sit around for a year waiting on an injured rival. Defend now, then fight Shevchenko when she is healthy.
Silva is 29, and the timing is right. The division suddenly has an open lane. She needs to use it by fighting often and fighting the right people.
The rest of the card
The night set a UFC record with 11 knockouts, nine of them in the first round. Payton Talbott stopped former champion Deiveson Figueiredo in the first round and called out Sean O’Malley. Marvin Vettori lost his fifth straight to Ismail Naurdiev, and Rafael dos Anjos was knocked out by Alexander Hernandez for his fourth consecutive loss.
Roberto Soldic also beat Khaos Williams by decision, and Esteban Ribovics and Roman Kopylov each won by first-round TKO. Silva made the biggest statement, though. She is a champion now, and the first defense will tell us how good she really is.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.