UFC 332 picks: the full card — Silva's night, and Figueiredo on the clock

Main event — Natalia Silva vs Wang Cong (vacant women's flyweight title): I'm picking Silva by decision. Too complete, too patient, and vacant titles reward the calmer mind over five rounds.

Co-main — Deiveson Figueiredo vs Payton Talbott: I'm picking Talbott by decision. The young wolf's pace drowns the old lion late; Figueiredo needs an early finish and I don't think he gets it.

King Green vs Esteban Ribovics: I'm picking Green by decision. Chaos is his native language, and Ribovics fights him on his own terms too long.

Roberto Soldic vs Khaos Williams: I'm picking Soldic by TKO. Someone's getting clipped, and Soldic's power is the kind that ends nights.

Johnny Walker vs Mick Parkin: I'm picking Parkin by decision. Walker at heavyweight is a lottery ticket; Parkin's fundamentals are the surer money.

Ateba Gautier vs Roman Kopylov: I'm picking Gautier by decision. Better athlete, cleaner entries, and he's been fighting up to the moment.

Rafael dos Anjos vs Alexander Hernandez: I'm picking Hernandez by TKO. Maximum respect to RDA forever, but the division is merciless to veterans and the end comes for everyone.

Marvin Vettori vs Ismail Naurdiev: I'm picking Vettori by decision. Grinding, ugly, effective — his fight, his pace, his scorecards.

Court McGee vs Eric Nolan: I'm picking McGee by decision. Grit ages better than anyone expects.

Fight of the night, in my view: Silva vs Wang for the vacant belt — five rounds of precision against pressure, and a new champion crowned. That's the fight you tell people about on Monday.

A word on the building, because context is a kind of pick too. UFC 332 goes down tonight, October 3, at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The main card airs on CBS and Paramount+ at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT), the prelims at 6, and the early prelims at 4 on Paramount+ and UFC Fight Pass. And this card got its title fight the strangest way: Valentina Shevchenko got hurt badly enough to be out a full year, and the flyweight belt that was hers is suddenly nobody’s. Silva vs. Wang isn’t for an interim strap. It’s for the real one.

That’s why I’m so high on Silva. Natalia Silva is 20-5-1, undefeated in eight UFC appearances, and she didn’t pad that record — she beat Rose Namajunas and Alexa Grasso back to back, two former champions. Her 2022 debut was a decision over Jasmine Jasudavicius, and every ranking that matters has her number one. Vacant titles don’t go to the more talented fighter by default; they go to the fighter who keeps her head when the fifth round starts asking questions. That’s Silva.

Wang Cong is no charity case. 10-1, four straight wins, all by decision — she doesn’t steal rounds, she accumulates them. And here’s the detail that should make Silva’s camp nervous: Wang beat Valentina Shevchenko once before, in a kickboxing ring, back in 2015. Different gloves, different sport, same confidence. Cong sits eighth in the division. She has everything to gain and a champion’s aura to borrow. For more fight coverage through the year, our sports desk keeps the card breakdowns coming.

The co-main is generational warfare. Deiveson Figueiredo — “Deus da Guerra,” the God of War — is 38, 25-7-1, a former flyweight champion fighting up at bantamweight. He lost to Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 324 and to Song Yadong in Macau in May. Across from him is Payton Talbott, 28, 11-1, out of Reno — the kid who got humbled by Raoni Barcelos at UFC 311 and answered with wins over Felipe Lima and Henry Cejudo. Talbott’s pace is a weapon. Figueiredo’s finishing is a threat. Somebody’s narrative breaks tonight.

The rest of the main card is violence with a resume. King Green (36-17-1, one no contest) is the lightweight division’s beloved chaos engine; Esteban Ribovics (16-3) wants to turn it into a pace test, which is a dangerous request to make of a man who has never known another gear. Roberto Soldic (21-4) makes his UFC debut — a two-division KSW champion and ONE Championship veteran — against Khaos Williams (16-5), whose right hand has erased better game plans than most. And Ateba Gautier (11-1), chasing his fifth UFC knockout and a perfect promotional record, takes the biggest step up of his young career against Roman Kopylov (15-5), a composed southpaw who specializes in punishing rushed entries.

Don’t sleep on the undercard. The early prelims carry Johnny Walker’s heavyweight debut against Britain’s Mick Parkin, the return of Rafael dos Anjos, and Marvin Vettori’s usual grinding ugliness — and Utah’s own Court McGee (23-14) is making his final Octagon walk against Eric Nolan. When Israel Adesanya looked at this card with Demetrious Johnson, he thought it was a Fight Night, then conceded the obvious: “The fights will probably be bangers.” For once, the former champion and I agree on everything. Check the news hub after the final bell for results.