UFC 332 is upon us.
In Saturday's main event, Natalia Silva and Wang Cong fight for the vacant women's flyweight championship. In the co-headliner, Payton Talbott takes on Deiveson Figueiredo in a pivotal bantamweight bout.
Here are four key storylines ahead of the UFC's return to Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Where does UFC 332 rank among the worst numbered events?
Let's cut to the chase: UFC 332 isn't a good card.
With the promotion focused on its trio of Abu Dhabi, New York, and Las Vegas events to close out 2026, UFC 332 is the one that got forgotten about. Silva-Wang is a title fight purely by definition and nothing else. The rest of the lineup could provide some solid entertainment - King Green versus Esteban Ribovics is a banger - but any sort of stakes are, by and large, nowhere to be found.
It might not be the worst numbered event in UFC history, but it's on the list.
While the complaints about UFC 332 are valid, this is a new reality fight fans will have to get used to now that we're in the Paramount+ era. Without a $70 price tag, numbered events don't always have to be stacked. The UFC can take a Fight Night card, call it a numbered event, and no one can complain - because you're getting it for "free" with a Paramount+ subscription. That's the trade-off.
We'll still get great cards here and there, but the days of every numbered event being must-see TV are gone.
Is this Silva's crowning moment?
Although Saturday's main event is a very disputed undisputed title fight (longtime champion Valentina Shevchenko vacated the belt earlier in September due to lingering injuries), Silva deserves to be here. She's been the No. 1 contender in the division for a while and has beaten three straight former champions - Rose Namajunas, Alexa Grasso, and Jessica Andrade.
As such, many have considered Silva the biggest threat to Shevchenko's title for the past couple of years. She's riding a 14-fight winning streak, including eight in a row in the Octagon. She's also in the prime of her career at 29.
If Silva wins the title this weekend, it'll take some time for her to step out of Shevchenko's shadow and convince MMA fans that she's the top women's flyweight in the world. But depending on what happens with Shevchenko (she could return in a year, never fight again, or move back to bantamweight), we could be about to watch the future of the 125-pound division begin a lengthy title reign.
Will Talbott break through as a bantamweight contender?
Talbott has been on the shortlist of bantamweight prospects for a few years, and he could break into the contender list with a win over former flyweight champion Figueiredo.
Talbott, a 28-year-old from Las Vegas, is coming off the biggest win of his career: a unanimous decision over former two-division champ Henry Cejudo at UFC 323 last December that sent Cejudo into retirement.
His next opponent, Figueiredo, is well past his prime and has lost four of his last five Octagon appearances. However, all of Figueiredo's defeats have come against elite competition, including current champ Petr Yan. The 38-year-old Brazilian is still a good measuring stick to see whether Talbott is ready to fight the best of the best at 135 pounds.
Dos Anjos finally returns
Former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos is back, nearly two years after tearing his ACL in an October 2024 loss to Geoff Neal.
No one would blame you if you thought Dos Anjos was retired, but here he is, at the ripe age of 41, trying one last go. I have no idea what to expect in his fight against Alexander Hernandez - which I guess is the beauty of MMA sometimes. It's been years since Dos Anjos was remotely competitive, though maybe he can turn back the clock and show that age is just a number.
