UFC 332 Main Event: Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong for Vacant Women's Featherweight Title

The vacant women's featherweight championship is on the line this Saturday in Salt Lake City when Natalia Silva and Wang Cong meet in the UFC 332 main event.

The title is up for grabs as a result of Valentina Shevchenko suffering an injury to her back and shoulder that will sideline her for at least a year. With the division's longtime best on the sidelines, the opportunity has opened up for Silva or Cong to make their mark in the history books by becoming UFC champion.

A man with plenty of championship experience will be in the co-main event, with two-time former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo battling rising star Payton Talbott. Talbott is looking for his second consecutive victory after defeating former two-division champion Henry Cejudo in his most recent outing.

You can watch UFC 332 live on CBS this Saturday beginning at 8 p.m. ET. The action is also available on Paramount+ -- along with every other UFC numbered event and UFC Fight Night included with your subscription! Plans start as low as $8.99/month or $89.99/year!

Natalia Silva embraces arduous journey to first title fight at UFC 332 against Wang Cong

Brian Campbell

With so much happening on Saturday night, let's look more closely at the full fight card with the latest odds before we get to our staff predictions and picks for the main card that you can consider before hitting the sportsbooks.

UFC 332 fight card, odds

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook (Odds as of Oct. 2)

Natalia Silva -205 vs. Wang Cong +170, vacant women's flyweight title

Payton Talbott -750 vs. Deiveson Figueiredo +525, bantamweights

Esteban Ribovics -230 vs. King Green +190, lightweights

Roberto Soldic -238 vs. Khaos Williams +195, welterweights

Ateba Gautier -258 vs. Roman Kopylov +210, middleweights

Imanol Rodriguez -142 vs. Alden Coria +120, flyweights

Damian Pinas -550 vs. Andrey Pulyaev +410, middleweights

Anthony Wint -520 vs. Lucas Armand +390, heavyweights

Marcus McGhee -550 vs. Anthony Romero +410, bantamweights

Johnny Walker -120 vs. Mick Parkin +100, heavyweights

Ismail Naurdiev -142 vs. Marvin Vettori +120, middleweights

Alexander Hernandez -278 vs. Rafael dos Anjos +225, lightweights

Jacobe Smith -1000 vs. Bruce Whitehead +650, middleweights

Eric Nolan -225 vs. Court McGee +185, welterweights

UFC 332 expert picks

With such a massive main event on tap, the crew at CBS Sports went ahead with predictions and picks for the main card from Brian Campbell, Brent Brookhouse, Shakiel Mahjouri and Brandon Wise.

CampbellBrookhouseMahjouriWiseSilva vs. CongSilva UDSilva UDSilva UDSilva TKO4Talbott vs. FigueiredoTalbott TKO3Talbot UDTalbott UDTalbott KO1Ribovics vs. GreenRibovics TKO2Green UDGreen UDRibovics UDSoldic vs. WilliamsSoldic KO1Soldic KO2Soldic KO2Soldic KO1Gautier vs. KopylovGautier TKO3Kopylov UDGautier UDKopylov UDRecords to date25-2227-2028-1920-27

Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong predictions

Campbell: In this matchup between skilled kickboxers, pairing Silva's high-volume, varied offensive attack against Cong's counterstriking will make the differences between the two fighters subtle. Yet, the speedy footwork of Silva, mixed with her distinct advantage in terms of elite experience, should be enough of an edge to get the job done over 25 minutes. Silva has won all eight of her UFC bouts, including three straight wins over former champions. She has also won 14 consecutive fights overall and is riding a mountain of momentum.

Brookhouse: This is a very competitive fight on paper. Cong is a big volume striker with solid power for the division. Silva is also a fighter with a striking-first mentality, but Silva is much more adept at applying defensive techniques to the striking game. The question is whether Silva can slow Cong enough while doing enough offensively to take rounds, or if Cong can use pressure and volume to win those rounds instead. I don't see a stoppage coming for either woman, and I'm going to trust in Silva's more impressive resume against elite competition and ability to make adjustments to win her enough rounds to edge the fight out on the scorecards.

Mahjouri: Silva was always supposed to be here. The UFC was reportedly working towards a fight between her and Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 332. Cong got the call after Shevchenko vacated the title due to injury. That means Silva has been preparing for a fight much longer than her opponent has. Beyond that, Silva has more elite experience, having defeated former UFC champions in her last three fights. The fight could be very competitive on the feet, but I believe Silva has the better MMA striking. Cong claims to have power, but we haven't seen it materialize. The final nail in the coffin for the unlikely title challenger is the weight cut. Cong has admitted in the past that her increased musculature has made cutting weight more challenging. Against Silva, she must make championship weight on relatively short notice. Silva should run away with this as she figures out the timing and Cong's stamina wanes. Silva by unanimous decision.

Payton Talbott vs. Deiveson Figueiredo predictions

Campbell: The 38-year-old Figuereido, a former two-time flyweight champion, still brings the presence of one-punch power into this matchup but not a ton more. Figueiredo, who turns 39 in December, has lost four of his last five bouts dating back to 2024 and is coming off of consecutive fights this calendar year in which he missed weight in the first and was finished inside of two rounds just four months ago. This co-headliner should provide the perfect platform for the 28-year-old Talbott to catapult himself into the top 15 at 135 pounds and announce himself as a legitimate threat.