After a wild night of early finishes and multiple records set inside the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, it's time to talk about what we learned from UFC 332.
Natalia Silva of Brazil held off a late rally from China's Wang Cong to capture the vacant women's flyweight title in the main event via unanimous decision. In the co-headliner, Payton Talbott made a strong claim for instant bantamweight title contention with a first-round finish of Deiveson Figueiredo.
Let's take a closer look at the five biggest takeaways.
1. Natalia Silva's story of perseverance added a climactic new chapter
In the six years since she first signed with UFC, Silva's personal story has already been filled with one moment after another of being forced to persevere in the face of injuries, delays and bad luck as the odds were so often stacked against her. So, it should come as no surprise that Silva's mountain-top moment as a professional would only come as a result of overcoming even more obstacles. After building an early lead before speed, movement and accurate striking against Wang in their title bout for the championship belt vacated by an injured Valentina Shevchenko, Silva was forced to hold off a near-dramatic rally from her hard-punching foe in the championship rounds. Simultaneously, Silva was forced to deal with the pressure of out-sized expectations when she was thrust into the main event of a card so many pundits declared that neither she nor Wang deserved. Add to that the booing that broke out at times during the fight as the crowd was forced to come down from the high of a record-setting night of knockouts (more on that below) and you have the type of pressure that could break many fighters.
But to Silva's credit, she endured the physical pounding of this hard-fought matchup with just as much class as she showed to the crowd. Not only did Silva celebrate her moment with nothing but unbridled passion, but she also left the audience with something to think about by delivering an inspirational speech that addressed the criticism she (and the fight) had endured before challenging anyone listening to fight for their dreams, regardless of others' opinions. Silva tied Shevchenko for the division record of nine consecutive wins to remain unbeaten in the UFC while winning her 14th consecutive fight overall.
2. It's time for UFC to go all-in on Payton Talbott in a huge fight
Talbott, a super prospect at bantamweight, was given somewhat of a showcase treatment on Saturday in the co-main event when he was paired against 38-year-old Deiveson Figueiredo, a two-time former flyweight champion. Entering as a massive betting favorite, Talbott completely delivered by brutalizing Figueiredo en route to a first-round TKO win, one fight after he battered and retired former two-division champion Henry Cejudo. But Talbott, who is 6-1 since his 2023 UFC debut and entered the fight unranked at 135 pounds, is simply too sublime -- already -- to continue feasting on aging names or even traditional contenders. As both Talbott and UFC analyst Daniel Cormier called for after the fight, the right opponent to match Talbott against is former champion Sean O'Malley in a No. 1 contender's fight. Talbott is so good that he has had trouble getting quality opponents, which played a big role in his 10-month layoff. He also accused O'Malley of turning down a fight against him at the White House in June. Talbott seems to have many of the rare gifts a fighter needs to necessitate such extreme fast-tracking. And at 28, he looks ready.
3. Youth was served on a record-setting night of knockouts
For all of the talk from critics that UFC 332 wasn't as deep as recent numbered events, this card was simply overflowing with fireworks and paid bonus money by night's end. A great deal of those highlight-reel moments were delivered by young prospects on the rise, which might explain why the event broke company records for the most knockouts (11), the modern record (since 2000) for most first-round knockouts (9) and came within one of the record for most finishes overall. From unbeaten welterweight Jacobe Smith and rising heavyweight/former NFL player Anthony Wint (who won his third fight in less than 60 days) to middleweight slugger Damian Pinas and red-hot flyweight prospect Imanol Rodriguez, the UFC stars of tomorrow made a series of grand statements in the opening round. The only big prospect who faltered was 24-year-old middleweight Ateba Gautier, the knockout machine who was humbled in his first UFC defeat in a first-round knockout loss to Roman Kopylov that served as a heat check.
4. Roberto Soldic's welterweight journey is going to be a wild ride
As if the UFC's 170-pound division, which is already a spoil of riches in terms of title depth, needs another exciting championship contender. But following his long-awaited promotion debut on Saturday, where he battered Khaos Williams over three rounds in a brutal display of boxing, the former two-division KSW champion, nicknamed "RoboCop," likely made himself a horde of new fans. The 31-year-old Soldic, a Croatian slugger who went the distance for just the second time since 2015 against Williams, is most well-known for his 2018 TKO win over former UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis in Poland. Given his elite global experience outside the Octagon, which includes a 2016 split-decision loss to Yaroslav Amosov and a recent stint in ONE Championship in Asia, Soldic has all the makings to be a future title threat. Getting there isn't a guarantee, however, considering Soldic often walks flat-footed into danger and isn't afraid to eat heavy shots in order to land his own. But it's that maverick attitude and an unshakable belief in his own punching power, which includes a heavy focus to the body, that will likely make his UFC journey must-see TV each time out.
5. Heavyweight Johnny Walker is a very interesting proposition
