Natalia Silva tells Valentina Shevchenko to 'get in line' for UFC belt
· Yahoo Sports
Natalia
Silva has responded to Cong Wang’s
eye-poke claim, Dana White’s assessment of their title fight and
Valentina
Shevchenko’s warning.
Silva captured the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight title by defeating Wang by unanimous decision in the UFC 332 main event on Oct. 3 in Salt Lake City, extending her UFC winning streak to nine and her overall run to 15 consecutive victories. She plans to make her first title defense in 2027.
Speaking to Sherdog, Silva addressed several post-fight developments. In a video posted on social media after the bout, Wang claimed an eye poke early in the fight affected her performance. Silva disputed the Chinese flyweight’s account, insisting that her hand was closed.
“I saw what she said after the fight. She said my finger brushed against her eye, but my hand was closed,” Silva said. “It wasn’t an illegal eye poke, as it ended up being portrayed online.”
She also pushed back on White’s suggestion that Wang would regret her performance after watching the bout again. The Brazilian argued that her strategy had limited her opponent’s offense.
“I talked about that with my coach,” Silva added. “Master always tells me that whenever I win, people criticize my opponent as if she were a bad fighter, but that’s not it. Our strategy is so well executed that we’re able to impose our game plan and the opponent can’t do what she had planned to do.”
Former champion Shevchenko, who vacated the title because of injury, congratulated Silva before telling her to keep the belt warm until her return. The new 125-pound titleholder told “Bullet” to wait her turn.
“Thank you very much for watching the fight, now that you have time to follow the division,” Silva continued. “But there’s something wrong with what she said. The belt isn’t hers; it’s mine. I waited a long time for Valentina. I was supposed to fight her, but the UFC gave me Alexa Grasso in May 2025, and then they gave me Namajunas in January. Now she wants to fight? That’s fine. She can just get in line.”
Silva captured the vacant Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight title by defeating Wang by unanimous decision in the UFC 332 main event on Oct. 3 in Salt Lake City, extending her UFC winning streak to nine and her overall run to 15 consecutive victories. She plans to make her first title defense in 2027.
Natalia Silva disputes Cong Wang's eye-poke claim and Dana White's UFC 332 assessment
Speaking to Sherdog, Silva addressed several post-fight developments. In a video posted on social media after the bout, Wang claimed an eye poke early in the fight affected her performance. Silva disputed the Chinese flyweight’s account, insisting that her hand was closed.
“I saw what she said after the fight. She said my finger brushed against her eye, but my hand was closed,” Silva said. “It wasn’t an illegal eye poke, as it ended up being portrayed online.”
She also pushed back on White’s suggestion that Wang would regret her performance after watching the bout again. The Brazilian argued that her strategy had limited her opponent’s offense.
“I talked about that with my coach,” Silva added. “Master always tells me that whenever I win, people criticize my opponent as if she were a bad fighter, but that’s not it. Our strategy is so well executed that we’re able to impose our game plan and the opponent can’t do what she had planned to do.”
Former champion Shevchenko, who vacated the title because of injury, congratulated Silva before telling her to keep the belt warm until her return. The new 125-pound titleholder told “Bullet” to wait her turn.
“Thank you very much for watching the fight, now that you have time to follow the division,” Silva continued. “But there’s something wrong with what she said. The belt isn’t hers; it’s mine. I waited a long time for Valentina. I was supposed to fight her, but the UFC gave me Alexa Grasso in May 2025, and then they gave me Namajunas in January. Now she wants to fight? That’s fine. She can just get in line.”
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