SALT LAKE CITY — Natalia Silva unanimously outpointed Wang Cong to claim the vacant UFC women’s flyweight championship Saturday night at UFC 332.
Silva (21-5-1) extended her winning streak to 15 bouts after largely dominating Wang (10-2) over five rounds.
“This is incredible for me,” Silva said. “I have worked hard for this moment and now I am the new (champion) and I am so so so happy.”
Silva went from challenger to favorite in the title bout after Valentina Shevchenko vacated the title nearly a month ago because of back and shoulder injuries. She proved far more aggressive than Wang early, using her speed, fluid movement, and strong legs to create an advantage.
Silva knocked Wang to the canvas midway through the second round with a sharp head kick. She kept Wang on her heels with her quick striking ability through the next two rounds and connected on other roundhouse kicks.
Wang fought back in the final round, but Silva landed enough blows to stay in control and had winning scores of 48-47, 48-47, 49-46 from the judges.
“I think if she had stepped on the gas a little earlier, it would have been a completely different fight,” UFC President Dana White said.
Payton Talbott earned a victory via TKO over Delveson Figueiredo with 2:51 left in the first round of the bantamweight bout billed as the co-main event.
Talbott (12-1) dominated Figueiredo (25-8-1) from the start of the fight. He put him on the canvas early with a right-handed strike and then delivered an elbow along the fence that sent Figueiredo reeling.
Talbott pressed his advantage, raining down blows and forcing his opponent to cover up until he forced a TKO.
“Definitely thought he was going to be more durable,” Talbott said.
It marked a successful return to the octagon for the Nevada fighter after going 10 months between bouts.
Talbott said he wished the latest bout had not ended so quickly.
“I wanted to just feel that war,” Talbott said. “I’m really happy to get the finish because it’s been a while since I got that finish. Deep down, that’s who I am. I chase finishes. But, yeah, I definitely wanted it to come a little bit later in the fight.”
Roman Kopylov defeated Ateba Gautier by TKO with 3:12 remaining in the first round of the middleweight bout that served as the first of three main card fights leading into the co-main event. Kopylov swarmed Gautier with several clean strikes before finally dropping him to the canvas with a left-handed blow. He earned his second UFC victory of the year while handing Gautier his second career defeat.
UFC newcomer Roberto Soldic debuted with a unanimous decision victory, scoring 29-28, 29-27, 29-27 over Khaos Williams in the welterweight bout. The fight lasted all three rounds, but Soldic dominated his opponent throughout with timely blows and bottled him up on the canvas at the end of each of the first two rounds.
Esteban Ribovics edged King Green by TKO with 52 seconds to go in the first round of the lightweight bout. Ribovics dropped Green to the canvas three times with well-timed strikes, overwhelming him after the third fall.
White reported a gate of $2.7 million for the event with 16,492 fans in attendance.
