The vacant women's featherweight championship is on the line this Saturday in Salt Lake City when Natalia Silva and Wang Cong meet in the UFC 332 main event. The title is up for grabs as a result of Valentina Shevchenko suffering an injury to her back and shoulder that will sideline her for at least a year. With the division's longtime best on the sidelines, the opportunity has opened up for Silva or Cong to make their mark in the history books by becoming UFC champion.
A man with plenty of championship experience will be in the co-main event, with two-time former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo battling rising star Payton Talbott. Talbott is looking for his second consecutive victory after defeating former two-division champion Henry Cejudo in his most recent outing. You can watch UFC 332 live on CBS this Saturday beginning at 8 p.m.
The action is also available on Paramount+ -- along with every other UFC numbered event and UFC Fight Night included with your subscription! Plans start as low as $8.99/month or $89.99/year! With so much happening on Saturday night, let's look more closely at the full fight card with the latest odds before we get to our staff predictions and picks for the main card that you can consider before hitting the sportsbooks.
Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook (Odds as of Oct. 2) With such a massive main event on tap, the crew at CBS Sports went ahead with predictions and picks for the main card from Brian Campbell, Brent Brookhouse, Shakiel Mahjouri and Brandon Wise. Campbell: In this matchup between skilled kickboxers, pairing Silva's high-volume, varied offensive attack against Cong's counterstriking will make the differences between the two fighters subtle. Yet, the speedy footwork of Silva, mixed with her distinct advantage in terms of elite experience, should be enough of an edge to get the job done over 25 minutes.
Silva has won all eight of her UFC bouts, including three straight wins over former champions. She has also won 14 consecutive fights overall and is riding a mountain of momentum. Brookhouse: This is a very competitive fight on paper.
Cong is a big volume striker with solid power for the division. Silva is also a fighter with a striking-first mentality, but Silva is much more adept at applying defensive techniques to the striking game. The question is whether Silva can slow Cong enough while doing enough offensively to take rounds, or if Cong can use pressure and volume to win those rounds instead.
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