Main Card Results | UFC 332: Silva vs Wang

The Brazilian used her varied striking and supreme movement to get out to an early lead against “The Joker,” frustrating her over the first two rounds to build a solid lead heading into the latter stages of the fight. While Wang was able to close the gap and find some success of her own as the fight rolled into the championship rounds, Silva continued to land and control the exchanges until the final moments of the fifth, where the Chinese contender landed her best shots of the contest.

The judges were called upon for only the third time in the night, and when their scores were collected and totalled, it was Silva that came out ahead, claiming the vacant title and becoming the fifth champion in the division’s history and the fourth women to hold the belt. Wang gave a solid account of herself and should remain in the championship mix, but it was Silva’s evening, as she moved to 9-0 in the UFC while climbing to the top of the 125-pound weight class.

Talbott put Figueiredo on the canvas with a crisp right hand early in the contest, but it was an elbow along the fence that started the press for the finish from the Reno, Nevada native. As soon as it landed, Figueiredo seemed poised to be set packing and Talbott did just that, staying on him, connecting with hard shots and forcing him to cover up, bringing referee Jason Herzog in wave things off.

This was a tremendous return after 10 months off for Talbott, who continues to impress and move forward in the bantamweight ranks. He’s an outstanding prospect and called for a fight with “Suga” Sean O’Malley next, which would be absolute fire.

Ribovics brought the fight to Green straight away but couldn’t necessarily find him with big shots in the early going, allowing Green to get into his defensive movements and usual tactics. But late in the first, Ribovics extended his combinations and found success, clipping and dropping Green on multiple occasions, with referee Herb Dean finally halting the action after the third knockdown.

This was a good win for Ribovics, who unfortunately missed weight on Friday. He’s now dispatched a pair of veteran talents in consecutive contest while moving to 6-3 inside the Octagon and further cementing himself as a must-see attraction in the 155-pound ranks.

It surprisingly went the distance, but the decision was never in doubt, as Soldić got the nod from all three judges. This was a quality opening effort from the 31-year-old promotional newcomer, who should be even better next time out now that he’s not coming off a near-600-day layoff.

The Russian veteran leaned on his edge in experience and skill to tame “The Storm” in Saturday’s main card opening, connecting with several clean punches in the early going before connecting with a left hand that put Gautier on skates. From there, Kopylov swarmed, chasing him into the canvas and smashing out the finish.

This was an outstanding performance from the battle-tested Russian, who picked up his second win of the year and eighth UFC victory to kick things off in Salt Lake City. Gautier will be better for having gone through this, but tonight is Kopylov’s night as he scored one for the veteran class.