LAS VEGAS — Natalia Silva waited years for her shot at the UFC women’s flyweight title. She got it last Saturday at UFC 332, took the vacant belt from Wang Cong over five rounds in Salt Lake City, and by Sunday morning the line to take it from her had already formed. That is the state of the 125-pound division right now: a brand-new champion, a legendary ex-champion who never lost the thing inside the cage, and a former champion playing the best ball of her career. Somebody is going to be disappointed.
The warning came first
It took Valentina Shevchenko less than a day. The longtime queen of the division, who vacated the belt in September because of lingering injuries, watched Silva win the title she used to own — a title fight Shevchenko herself had originally been lined up to contest before the injury forced the UFC’s hand — and went straight to X. The congratulations were genuine. The second half was not subtle: don’t get too comfortable, keep it warm, I’m coming soon for my belt.
Nobody should read that as trash talk. Shevchenko ruled this division across two reigns and nine title defenses; the belt changed hands because her body gave out, not because anyone took it from her. The UFC’s own divisional spotlight this week framed it plainly: the general consensus is that Shevchenko walks straight back into a title shot the moment she is healthy. The wrinkle is the part nobody can answer yet — there is still no timetable for her return, and a new champion cannot sit on her hands waiting for one.
Silva, for her part, said exactly that after the win. “I want to be an active champion,” she said. “There is no point in being a title holder if you don’t put it out for defense.” Good. Because the division is not short on volunteers.
Grasso’s renaissance is real
If you only remember the Alexa Grasso of the last two years, update the file. The former champion lost her title to Shevchenko in September 2024, then lost to Silva in May 2025 — and plenty of people quietly wrote her off as a contender. Then March came. In Seattle, Grasso knocked out Maycee Barber in the first round, a $100,000 bonus-winning finish that was her first knockout win in over a decade. Then September came. At Noche UFC in Glendale, she outworked top contender Manon Fiorot over three rounds to win a unanimous decision in a bout that was officially billed as a title eliminator.
Two fights, two finishes of the narrative that she was done. Grasso is 18-5-1 now, and she knew exactly what the Fiorot win meant the moment it happened. “I’ll be watching, of course,” she said afterward, talking about the vacant-title fight. “It’s an important fight in my weight class, but I always keep training. I trust in my work, and when the time comes, I’ll be ready.”
The rematch angle writes itself. Silva beat Grasso the first time; Grasso has been the better fighter since. If the UFC wants the most deserving challenger on merit — not on legacy, not on patience — the Mexican is the pick, and it is not particularly close.
Edmonton is the swing fight
But merit has company. On October 17, UFC Edmonton’s co-main event is a flyweight fight with real title implications: Erin Blanchfield (14-2) against Jasmine Jasudavicius (15-4). Blanchfield has won two straight — a decision over Rose Namajunas and a submission of Tracy Cortez — and looked every bit the future of the division doing it. Jasudavicius bounced back from her own loss to Fiorot with a decision win over Karine Silva, and she has been one of the division’s most reliable grinders for years.
The winner becomes very hard to ignore. And do not forget Casey O’Neill, who just submitted Eduarda Moura at UFC 331 for her second stoppage of the year and keeps climbing the quiet way — by winning.
So what’s actually next?
Here is the honest read. With Shevchenko sidelined indefinitely, the UFC needs its new champion fighting, not waiting. Grasso is the cleanest option on the table: a former champion, two straight wins, a billed eliminator victory, and a rematch storyline with the woman who beat her to get here. If the matchmakers would rather let Edmonton play out first, the Blanchfield-Jasudavicius winner is a ready-made backup plan.
And Wang Cong? She lost on Saturday, but she went five hard rounds in the first women’s headliner on a numbered card in more than three years, and she made the champion work for every minute of it. She is further back in line now, but she is still in the picture — contenders who push champions like that tend to get second chances.
No announcement yet. But this is the rare good problem for a division: too many deserving challengers instead of too few. Silva wanted to be an active champion. She is about to find out exactly how active that gets.
