UFC Reportedly Working on New UFC 332 Title Fight After Valentina Shevchenko Injury

The UFC is reportedly creating an interim title fight to headline UFC 332 after the originally targeted championship bout fell through.

Scheduled to take place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, UT, UFC 332 is now just over a month away but only has eight scheduled fights, none of which are main event or co-main event caliber.

Reports emerged last month that the event would be headlined by a women’s flyweight title bout between Valentina Shevchenko and Natalia Silva, but as of this week it appears that matchup is unfortunately off the table.

Valentina Shevchenko Injury Derails Planned UFC 332 Title Fight

First reported by Ag Fight, the planned title bout between Shevchenko and Silva fell through due to an injury suffered by Shevchenko.

Now in her second reign as the UFC women’s flyweight champion, Shevchenko lost her belt to Alexa Grasso in a major upset at UFC 285 but ultimately reclaimed the title when she defeated Grasso in their trilogy bout at UFC 306.

Valentina Shevchenko (red gloves) walks out before the women's flyweight championship bout against Zhang Weili (not pictured) during UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

After opening her second title reign with a unanimous decision over Manon Fiorot, Shevchenko welcomed two-time UFC Strawweight Champion Weili Zhang to flyweight at UFC 322 and also defeated “Magnum” via unanimous decision.

Valentina Shevchenko (red gloves) fights Zhang Weili (blue gloves) in the women's flyweight championship bout during UFC 322 at Madison Square Garden. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The win over Zhang saw Shevchenko tie Amanda Nunes for the most women’s title fight wins in UFC history, and the planned UFC 332 matchup with Silva would have given “Bullet” the opportunity to take sole possession of that record.

Kayla Harrison (blue gloves) talks to Amanda Nunes after defeating Julianna Pena (not pictured) in a bantamweight title bout during UFC 316 at Prudential Center. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Silva is currently ranked as the #1 contender at women’s flyweight and was the clear choice to challenge for the belt next, and apparently the Brazilian may still get the chance to fight for UFC gold in Salt Lake City even after Shevchenko's injury.

UFC Reportedly Targets Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong for Interim Women's Flyweight Belt

According to @MagicM_MMABets, UFC 332 will be headlined by an interim women’s flyweight title bout featuring Silva and #6-ranked contender Wang Cong.

Natalia Silva (red gloves) reacts before the fight against Rose Namajunas (blue gloves) during UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Cong famously holds a win over Shevchenko from 2015 while the two women were both still competing in kickboxing, and “The Joker” arrived to the Octagon to considerable fanfare ahead of her first-round submission of Paula Luna on a Road to UFC card in 2024.

Wang Cong during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The 34-year-old also knocked out Victoria Leonardo in just over a minute to bring her professional MMA record to 6-0 before she ended up on the wrong side of a huge upset against Gabriella Fernandes, but since then Cong has rebounded with four-straight wins.

Tracy Cortez (red gloves) fights Wang Cong (blue gloves) in a women's flyweight bout during UFC 329 at T-Mobile Arena. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Fans likely won’t be thrilled if an interim title bout ends up being the only championship offering on UFC 332, but UFC CEO Dana White did confirm last night after Dana White’s Contender Series that the card’s main event would be revealed at some point this week.

UFC 332 Fight Card

Main Event: Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong – For the Interim UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship*

Payton Talbott vs. Marvin Deiveson Figuiredo

Marvin Vettori vs. Ismail Naurdiev

Mick Parkin vs. Johnny Walker

Roman Kopylov vs. Ateba Gautier

Alden Coria vs. Imanol Rodriguez

Damian Pinas vs. Andrey Pulyaev

Court McGee vs. Eric Nolan

Alexander Hernandez vs. Rafael dos Anjos

*Fight is not yet confirmed

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