Saturday’s UFC 332 saw history made, as Natalia Silva clinched the vacant flyweight title via a unanimous decision against Wang Cong to cap off a highly underrated night. Meanwhile, a record-breaking 11 fights ended in knockouts, nine of them in the first round, also a record in the modern era. That slate was capped off by Payton Talbott graduating to contendership with a rout of former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.
That being said, here are three lessons learned…
Johnny Walker had a successful UFC heavyweight debut, needing only a little over three and a half minutes to end Mick Parkin with a knee. The result is not necessarily expected to land Walker in the rankings. It serves, though, to remove the stench from his last outing – a tepid decision loss to Dominick Reyes.
For Walker’s next fight, how about something fun and unexpected – in this case, his younger half-brother Valter? This may sound weird, but Dana White should book that brother-on-brother fight, even if just for the novelty.
There have been plenty of instances of brothers being under contract within the UFC at the same time, most notably Nick and Nate Diaz. Two brothers fighting each other, however? It has yet to happen, and it will be intriguing to see which Walker is better – is it the elder knockout artist, or the younger “Foot Hunter”?
Deiveson Figueiredo is easily one of the most successful fighters of the 2020s, winning the UFC flyweight title twice. He also initially had one of the best initial runs for a fighter moving up a weight class, winning his first three fights as a bantamweight.
Alas, Figueiredo’s subsequent stretch has been painful to watch. Including his loss to Talbott on Saturday, Figueiredo has gone 1-5, and at 39, he seems to be at the end of his career. So it would be best if he hung up his gloves, as many of his compatriots did after equally devastating defeats.
The same hang up the gloves sentiment can be extended to compatriot and fellow former champion Rafael dos Anjos, who suffered a drubbing against Alexander Hernandez in the early prelims. At 41 years of age, what else has he to give? He has secured his legacy as one of the UFC’s more underappreciated figures, and he needs to bow out before everything gets worse.
With the title now firmly at her waist, Silva already knows who her next challenger is: Alexa Grasso. The Mexican former champion has been on a roll since initially losing to Silva in May last year. Grasso first devastatingly knocked out Maycee Barber in their rematch in March, then outworked Manon Fiorot for a decision win at Noche UFC last month.
Grasso’s two-win streak should earn her a well-deserved first crack at the new champion, but there is a problem surrounding the rematch – a lack of star quality. Neither she nor Silva are exactly that well-known to most of the UFC’s fanbase, and it does not help that neither speaks English as a first language. This significantly limits how much interest the buildup to the fight can attract, but there is a solution that should afford it maximum attention.
Make Grasso/Silva a Fight Night main event, preferably in Mexico or Brazil. The UFC is no stranger to doing this before – the last time it happened, Grasso was the champion. It managed to generate more interest than it would have had it sat below another fight on a numbered card, as would happen the following year.
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Now that the first of the UFC’s numbered events is done, attention shifts to the following week’s Apex event. The headliner sees middleweight contenders Brendan Allen and Christian Leroy Duncan jockeying for momentum that will get them closer to title contention. In addition, Ketlen Souza looks to enter the strawweight rankings when she takes on Loopy Godinez. Finally, Hawaiian-bred veterans Andre Fili and Kai Kamaka III collide in a potential featherweight barnburner.
The prelims feature a variety of veterans and prospects looking for a statement win that could get them noticed. Overall, the card may be light on relevance, but it could end up producing much highlight-worthy action, just as happened yesterday…
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