After ruling
Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight champion
Valentina Shevchenko had to relinquish the title due to injury, Natalia Silva and Cong Wang
lost the 125-pound advantage in the main event of the year UFC 332.
It was Silva who finally saw his lifelong dream come true as he outlasted Wang in five rounds, winning a rather lopsided unanimous decision to hoist the belt in front of a sold-out crowd at Salt Lake City’s Delta Center.
Natalia Silva defeated Cong Wang at UFC 332 before Payton Talbott stopped Deiveson Figueiredo
Silva (21-5-1) used his tremendous speed and confusing movement to confuse “The Trickster” throughout, preventing Wang from landing many impact shots during their meeting. Even when Wang (10-2) stepped on the gas late, it wasn’t enough and Silva weathered the storm. In the end, Silva was awarded a 48-47 (twice) and 49-46 decision by the cage judges, ending an excellent and violent fight card.
Payton Talbott made a loud and clear statement that he was ready to take on the bantamweight top dogs as he fired up the former two-time flyweight king Deiveson Figueiredo in the first round of the co-main tournament. Talbott (12-1) sent the Brazilian to the face with a perfect straight line and beat the hell out of Figueiredo (25-8-1) until referee Jason Herzog had no choice but to save him. It didn’t matter whether Talbott hit from the right or the left, or shot to the head and body; Figueiredo had little chance of survival. “Daico” bowed out in 2:09 and Talbott scored a dominant victory over the multi-division champion and Olympic gold medalist. Henry Cejudoshouted Sean O’Malley afterward.
Esteban Ribovics (17-3) was unfazed by the longtime veteran and the crowd King Green‘s cageside antics as he pummeled him late in the opening round of their lightweight bout. Green (36-18-1, 1 NC) talked and played head games as soon as the fight started, but Ribovics stayed calm and eventually dropped him on the jaw with a looping left hook. Green bounced back up, but “El Gringo” landed another left hook to the jaw, sending him to the canvas again. The Argentine eventually ended the show with another left hook that dropped the American for good as the veteran third man. Herb Dean waved it. The end of the round came at 4:08. However, Ribovics was deemed ineligible for post-fight bonuses after missing weight on Friday.
In what was a scintillating affair, welterweight Roberto Soldic survived a shaky first round to rush back and strike
Kalin Williams over the final two frames to earn the unanimous decision win. “Robocop” repeatedly tore Williams to the head and body with crisp blows and took down the American almost at will. Soldic (22-4, 1 NC) was hurt and wobbled by “Khao” several times, but he couldn’t put Williams (16-6) away and took home the nod by scores of 29-27 (twice) and 29-28.
Roman Kopylov many assumed it would be more of an anti-show for a fellow welterweight and highly promoted Atebega Gautier. However, the Russian stopped the buzz train by pushing the Cameroonian knockout in the opening frame to kick off the main card in star-studded fashion. Kopylov (16-5) jabbed his opponent in the face with a left straight during the exchange, and the blow shook Gautier. Another punch followed, and as soon as Gautier (11-2) hit the deck, Kopylov wasted no time in unloading a stream of hammer fists all the way to the referee. Marc Goddard
had to stop the robbery. The end officially came 3:12 into the first.
Imanol Rodriguez stopped by winning a spectacular initial card Alden Coria
in the first one with cringing guts. Rodriguez went 8-0 with his impressive performance, boosting Coria (13-4, 1 NC) with his blistering hand speed with punches, but it was this perfectly timed strike that ended the contest. Rodriguez dug his toes deep into “Cobra’s” stomach, prompting a scream from the Houston-based fighter, and as he collapsed to the canvas, referee Jason Herzog stepped in to stop it at 3:11.
There is a lot of buzz surrounding the rising middleweight Damian Pinasand he proved why again today: crushing one-punch power. Pinas (11-1) set the Russian on fire Andrei Pulyaev perfect right uppercut to the jaw, sending Puljaev (10-6) crashing to the canvas in a heap. It took Pinas just 75 seconds to electrify the Salt Lake City crowd; he declared that he wants a top 10 middleweight next.
Featherweight contender Marcus McGhee there were no problems with late replacement Anthony Romerowhen he took him out with just two seconds left in the opening play. McGhee (12-2) dropped “The Bully” with a jab and ended the show, slamming him into the cage with punch after punch all the way to the referee. Tyler Tomlinson intervened. Romero fell to 7-3, 1 NC.
Former New York Jets player Anthony Wint improved to 9-0 by crushing a fellow heavyweight Lucas Armand in just 23 seconds. Wint attacked Armani (6-1), forced him into the cage and then unleashed a barrage of punches until his opponent fell to the canvas and had to be saved by referee Mike Beltran.
A fan favorite Johnny Walker had a successful heavyweight debut as the popular Brazilian blew out his left knee Mick Parkinjaw, ending their feud in spectacular fashion. Walker (23-10, 1 NC) got English’s Thai plum on his back and then corked a perfect knee, sending Parkin (10-2) out cold and on his back to the canvas at 3:35 of the first.
An undefeated welterweight contender Jacob Smith took another step towards greatness by erasing
Bruce Whitehead (8-3) in just 92 seconds. After hitting a power slam, Smith (13-0) landed shots on the dome before kicking out “The Goose.”
Alexander Hernandez scored the biggest win of his career by stopping the former lightweight champion of the world Rafael dos Anjos in the second round. After rocking Dos Anjos at the end of the first and then at the start of the second, Hernandez hit him with a right hook to the head and finished the Brazilian moments later with follow-up punches. Referee Mike Beltran had to pull Hernandez (19-9) off with 3:12 left in the bout. Dos Anjos fell 31-18.
Middleweight contender Ismail Naurdiev turned to a workmanlike performance and pulled out
Marvin Vettori (19-11-1) over three rounds, winning by unanimous decision. All three cageside judges saw the result as 29:28 in favor of Naurdev, who improved the score to 26:8.
in New Jersey Eric Nolan
played the role of spoiler as he beat the longtime veteran
Court McGee in his exit match, stopping “The Crusher” in the third round. After a competitive fight, Nolan (9-5) rocked McGee with punches to the head and then landed dozens of follow-up shots until McGee (23-15) crumbled to the canvas, prompting referee Jason Herzog to bail him out. The end officially came at 3:26 of the frame.
