This past Saturday, the UFC announced its main event for October’s UFC numbered card in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The main event will feature Natalia Silva taking on Wang Cong for the vacant UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship. The main event was hindered by injury as Valentina Shevchenko vacated the belt due to an injury that will likely have her out for a year. As a result, we a new champion will be unveiled.
In the co-main event has Payton Talbott facing Deiveson Figueiredo in a battle between bantamweights. Talbott is the #11 ranked bantamweight while the former champ, Figueiredo is #9.
The last time a women’s bout headlined a UFC-numbered card it was in June 2023 when Irene Aldana met Amanda Nunes for the bantamweight title.
Cong is coming off of a win on the early prelims of UFC 329 where she defeated Tracey Cortez. Silva is coming off of a win over Rose Namajunas this past January at UFC 324.
Silva is the number 1 contender and would likely have had the challenger spot against Shevchenko if she was not injured. And Cong is an exciting young fighter ranked #6 overall.
While the UFC touts the best fighters in MMA, the lack of booking for this event is horrid. Moreover, this is one of the cards that will air on CBS. The event is part of a multi-year deal with Utah in which the state’s tourism board is paying TKO to have events come to the state. The assumption would be that there would be marquee fighters appearing.
You can argue that the main event is quality and just not for the casual fan. But, this has been a problem with UFC booking of late. Uninspired matchups and lack of planning to ensure that top contenders are meeting each other at big events. One has to be a hardcore fan (or convinced by a UFC influencer) to think that the last few fight night card headliners have been events you would stop and watch.
Even if Shevchenko was not injured, the UFC usually backs it up with another title fight. But, this time it has not, and will have to do some stretching to sell Silva-Cong.
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