Salt Lake City: Brazil’s Natalia Silva has become the new UFC women’s flyweight champion after defeating China’s Wang Cong by unanimous decision at UFC 332.
Silva was originally scheduled to fight Kyrgyzstan’s Valentina Shevchenko for the title, but the bout was cancelled after Shevchenko was forced to relinquish the belt last month because of an injury.
The Brazilian entered the fight as the favourite and extended her winning run to 15 bouts with a strong five-round performance against Wang in Salt Lake City.
Gold suits her 🏆
@NataliaSilvaUFC leaves #UFC332 as the flyweight champion! https://t.co/eRAWQux8mB
— UFC (@ufc) October 4, 2026
The judges awarded Silva the fight with scores of 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46, giving her the vacant championship. Speaking after the fight, Silva urged people not to give up on their goals and credited God for giving her the opportunity to win the title.
“I want to tell this to everyone… don’t give up on anything,” Silva said. She added that she knew Wang would be a difficult opponent and said the fight demonstrated why the Chinese fighter had earned a title challenge.
Silva, 29, ended her post-fight comments by declaring herself the new champion. Shevchenko later congratulated Silva on X but warned the new champion to stay prepared for her return.
“Well deserved, Natalia! Congratulations,” Shevchenko wrote, adding that Silva deserved to hold the UFC championship belt but telling her not to “get too comfortable” as she planned to come back for the title.
The bout was notable as the first UFC women’s main event since January 2025, when Mackenzie Dern defeated Amanda Ribas. It was also the first time two women headlined one of the UFC’s numbered flagship events since June 2023, when Amanda Nunes defeated Irene Aldana.
Earlier on the UFC 332 card, Britain’s Mick Parkin suffered a first-round knockout against Brazil’s Johnny Walker. Parkin was stopped in less than four minutes after Walker landed a knee during his heavyweight debut.
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