A head kick landed clean, Wang Cong hit the canvas, and the knockout count for the night ticked up again. By the end of UFC 332 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, 11 of the 14 bouts had ended inside the distance and the card had produced 16 knockdowns, both modern UFC records, with nine of those stoppages coming in the first round.

Natália Silva took the vacant women’s flyweight belt from China’s Wang on Saturday, 3 October, winning on scorecards of 48-47, 48-47 and 49-46 across five rounds. She becomes the fourth undisputed UFC women’s flyweight champion, after Nicco Montano, Valentina Shevchenko and Alexa Grasso.

Silva, 29, now carries a 15-fight winning streak and a 9-0 record inside the UFC, with an overall mark of 21-5-1.

A head kick in round two

The decisive moment arrived midway through the second round. Silva connected with a head kick that briefly dropped Wang. Silva kept hold of the clinch after Wang got back up, and the opening two rounds were hers on all three cards.

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Wang pushed back in the third and fifth rounds, pressing with hooks and clinch work. Two judges gave her those rounds, but Silva’s early lead was never under real threat.

‘I’m the new queen’

“This is incredible for me. I have worked hard for this moment and now I am the new champion and I am so so so happy,” Silva told the UFC broadcast.

“This is the beginning of Natalia Silva. I’m the new queen.”

UFC president Dana White was more measured, telling reporters Silva had done enough rather than ruled the fight from end to end.

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“I think if she had stepped on the gas a little earlier, it would have been a completely different fight,” White said.

Shevchenko already circling

Shevchenko, who vacated the belt nearly a month earlier because of back and shoulder injuries, did not wait long to put her name on the next fight. In a message posted on 4 October, she congratulated Silva before issuing a warning.

“Well deserved Natalia! Congratulations!” Shevchenko wrote.

“But don’t get too comfortable, keep it warm, I’m coming soon for my belt!”

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Shevchenko has not been medically cleared to return, and the UFC has not announced Silva’s first title defence. Four fighters on the Salt Lake City card walked out with $100,000 Performance of the Night bonuses.

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