UFC 332 in Salt Lake City: Top Storylines Beyond the Women's Flyweight Title Fight

The future of the women's flyweight division will be at stake as a vacant 125-pound title bout headlines UFC's return to Salt Lake City, Utah, on Saturday at UFC 332 .

The event, which will feature the first complete UFC main card to air live on CBS, will emanate from the Delta Center as top-rated flyweights Natalia Silva and Wang Cong square off for the title recently vacated by two-time champion Valentina Shevchenko , who is still recovering from injuries that have sidelined her for nearly a full year since her last fight in November 2025.

In the co-feature, rising bantamweight prospect Payton Talbott takes on former two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo .

As we draw closer to this weekend's fights, let's take a closer look at the biggest storylines surrounding the event.

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1. The future of the UFC women's flyweight division is right now

For years, fans have wondered who would carry the torch for the UFC at 125 pounds once the decorated and extended reign of Shevchenko, a two-time champion, comes to an end. But Shevchenko, the 38-year-old living legend who holds the UFC women's record for most total title defenses with nine, never handed off the belt in the traditional sense considering lingering ligament damange to her back and shoulder forced her to vacate her title, some 10 months after her last title defense against former two-time strawweight champion Zhang Weili . That opened the door to a new crop of fighters aggressively seeking their breakthrough moment (along with veteran contenders like former champion Alexa Grasso , who could face the winner should her rival Shevchenko remain sidelined). Silva, a 29-year-old striker from Brazil, will bring her 14-fight win streak (including an 8-0 run since her 2022 UFC debut) into Saturday's title bout against Cong, a 34-year-old native of China who owns a 2015 kickboxing victory over Shevchenko. The bout is expected to be a high-paced showdown between two strikers as the high-volume Silva enters as the betting favorite against the technical counterpunching of Cong to find out who has next at 125 pounds.

2. Payton Talbott is on the verge of breaking through at bantamweight

Talbott, 28-year-old prospect from Las Vegas who was raised in Reno, Nevada, is 5-1 since his 2023 debut and coming off the biggest victory of his young Octagon career in December when he sent former two-division champion Henry Cejudo to retirement in a decision win. Now, snapping a 10-month layoff, the exciting and well-rounded fighter looks to work his way into the top 15 at 135 pounds in Saturday's co-main event when he takes on another former champion in the former two-time flyweight king Figueiredo. Even though Figueiredo enters having lost four of his last five, all of his defeats came against elite competition, which makes him a strong measuring stick as to whether Talbott is ready to start challenging himself against the top level of the division.

> He was dominant in his last outing 😮‍💨 @PaytonTalbott plans on extending his win streak to 3 in the co-main event at #UFC332 ! [ OCT 3 | LIVE at 8pmET on @ParamountPlus and @CBS ] pic.twitter.com/CKTr4A66OZ — UFC (@ufc) September 28, 2026

3. Can the King Green renaissance tour continue against Esteban Ribovics?

According to the oddsmakers, it's anything but automatic considering Ribovics, a 32-year-old native of Argentina, is nearly a 3-to-1 betting favorite and less than two months removed from sending 40-year-old legend Edson Barboza into retirement via knockout. But the 40-year-old Green has beaten the odds before as a veteran of 55 fights throughout an 18-year pro career as he sets for his 32nd walk to the Octagon. Green's current four-fight win streak has become a fun storyline to watch given his dangerous style of fighting with his hands down and, in part, because his win streak followed a stretch in which he was finished three times in a span of four fights. Green will be fighting for the fourth time in 2026 against Ribovics and the fifth time in the past 10 months. He's also less than three months removed from a chaotic first-round TKO win against Terrance McKinney at UFC 329 where Green was battered for most of Round 1 only to rally for a stoppage with one second to go. Win or lose, Green tends to always entertain and this win streak has been no different. Still, the possibility of a fifth straight win could make the veteran a legit lightweight contender, which would be incredible to see at this point in his career.

> Time to add another finish to his resume 😤 King Green is looking for his FOURTH STRAIGHT finish at #UFC332 ! [ OCT 3 | 8pmET | LIVE on @CBS & @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/PxSp87hIl3 — UFC on Paramount+ (@UFConParamount) September 28, 2026

4. Roberto Soldic is just the latest signing in UFC's recent European invasion

Less than one month after France's Salahdine Parnasse finally made his long-awaited UFC debut and looked like an instant lightweight title contender in doing so, hard-hitting Croatian striker Roberto Soldic will do the same on Saturday at welterweight. Long considered one of the best MMA fighters on the planet not signed to the UFC, "Robocop" went 8-1 (with seven knockouts) during a four-year stretch with the Polish promotion KSW, where Soldic captured titles in two divisions and traded knockouts in a pair of memorable fights with future UFC middleweight champion Dricus du Plessis . At 31, following a brief stint with ONE Championship in Asia, Soldic brings his 21-4 (1 NC) career record into his first Octagon walk as a strong favorite against power-punching veteran Khaos Williams , who is 4-4 over the last four years. The matchup should produce fireworks and it will be interesting to see whether Soldic can add himself into an already loaded title picture at 170 pounds.

5. A pair of middleweight sluggers take key steps forward in important matchups

If the future of the 185-pound division involves big fights surrounding 24-year-old exciting finishers Ateba Gautier and Damian Pinas , then middleweight is in store for some fireworks over the next few years. Both will need to pass important steps, of course, first in separate bouts on Saturday's card to extend their respective unbeaten UFC starts. Gautier, the 6-foot-4 "Silent Assassin" from Cameroon brings an 11-1 record with nine knockouts, which includes five UFC wins since 2025, into his matchup against the battle-tested Roman Kopylov . Pinas, meanwhile, has been just as explosive as the 10-1 "Baby Yaga" from Aruba, who has won nine fights by knockout, looks to build upon his pair of first-round finishes since making his February UFC debut by taking on Andrey Pulaev, who lost by decision to Gautier in January. If the wins keep coming for this pair of breakout performers, an inevitable matchup against one another will be must-see TV down the road.

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_Originally reported by [CBS Sports](https://www.cbssports.com/ufc/news/ufc-332-fight-card-natalia-silva-vs-wang-cong-storylines/)._