Valentina Shevchenko congratulated Natalia Silva on winning the vacant UFC flyweight title, then warned her she was coming back for it. Silva did not let the comment slide, firing back on social media that the former champion can get in line behind the rest of the contenders.
Silva claims the vacant belt
Natalia Silva beat Wang Cong by unanimous decision in the main event of UFC 332 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on October 3, 2026, claiming the vacant 125-pound (56.7 kg) title. The win pushed the Brazilian’s UFC record to 9-0 and extended her overall winning streak to 15 fights, a run that has made her the new standard in the women’s flyweight division. Silva, 28, has not lost since that streak began and had waited years for a shot at UFC gold, with a title fight against Shevchenko herself once discussed before falling through.
Shevchenko’s warning on social media
Valentina Shevchenko vacated the title because of lingering injuries, after defending it nine times across two separate championship reigns, most recently with a decision win over Zhang Weili in November 2025. That run of defenses made her one of the most dominant champions in the division for nearly a decade before the layoff, a period during which she was widely regarded as the measuring stick for every flyweight contender who came through the UFC. On X, the Kyrgyzstan-born former champion congratulated her successor, then added a reminder: “Well deserved, Natalia! Congratulations! But don’t get too comfortable, keep it warm, I’m coming soon for my belt!”
Silva says she already waited her turn
Natalia Silva responded directly to the challenge. “The belt isn’t hers, it’s mine,” she said. “I waited a long time for Valentina.” The champion pointed out that a fight between the two had once been floated, only for her to face Alexa Grasso in May 2025 and Rose Namajunas in January 2026 instead, beating both while the then-champion stayed out of action. She also criticized Shevchenko’s inactivity while holding the belt: “She wasn’t even keeping it warm herself. She would take a year between fights.” Asked about Shevchenko wanting the title back, Silva was blunt: “Now she wants to fight? That’s fine. She can just get in line.”
The eye-poke dispute with Wang Cong
Silva’s win was also shadowed by a dispute with Wang Cong. After the loss, Wang posted a video claiming an eye poke early in the fight had affected her performance over the rest of the five rounds. Silva rejected that account: “She said my finger brushed against her eye, but my hand was closed. It wasn’t an illegal eye poke.” UFC CEO Dana White had suggested after the fight that Wang would regret her performance once she rewatched the tape, a comment that also bothered the new champion, who felt her opponent had competed hard across all five rounds. Silva defended her game plan against the criticism: “Whenever I win, people criticize my opponent as if she were a bad fighter. That’s not it.” Neither the UFC nor its medical officials have issued any separate statement on the eye-poke claim.
No opponent locked in for the next defense
Silva said she wants to defend the title in the first half of 2027 and is not worried about any single name on the list: “I’m the champion now, and I’m the one who has to defend the title.” She named Alexa Grasso and Erin Blanchfield as possible contenders for that first defense, and said she would welcome a UFC event in her native Brazil, where she has never defended a title in front of her own fans. Early lines posted by oddsmaker BetOnline, which do not reflect any official UFC matchmaking decision, list Valentina Shevchenko as a favorite over Natalia Silva at minus 190 to plus 165, while a matchup against Alexa Grasso would make the champion a heavy favorite at minus 300 to plus 250. Those numbers suggest bettors still see the Kyrgyzstan-born former champion as the bigger threat, even on the sidelines. The UFC has not confirmed a date, opponent, or event for Silva’s first title defense, leaving open whether it comes against Shevchenko, Grasso, Blanchfield, or another name entirely.
