UFC 332 served up a night full of knockouts in Salt Lake City. Here are the biggest takeaways from Saturday's event.
Silva's Belt Feels Incomplete Without Shevchenko
Natália Silva won that fight. That's not even remotely debatable. Despite some shaky moments in the final round, this was her night all the way. But gradually outpointing the sixth-ranked fighter in the division in arguably the least interesting fight of the night doesn't exactly feel like enough to make anyone forget the name Valentina Shevchenko.
We know who the queen of this weight class is. We've known for a very long time, and we've been reminded of it over and over. The UFC might have taken her belt and given it to Silva, but without the meaning behind it, that thing is just a heavy hunk of leather and metal.
Silva did what she needed to do and capitalized on the opportunity, so good for her. But if she wants people to look at her like the real champ, she'll need to go through "The Bullet" first.
Payton Talbott Needs a Big Fight, and Soon
The moment he hit Deiveson Figueiredo with that first straight right hand, this one felt like it was basically over. He was too sharp, too fast, and just too dangerous at every range for the former champ. From that point on it was like we were just waiting to see what type of highlight Talbott would be adding to his reel.
I know that setback against Raoni Barcelos cooled some of his hype by ruining his perfect record, but that's three in a row for Talbott now and he's looked better every time out. It's time for him to jump up a notch or two and get a legitimately big fight in the very near future. There's so much to like in his game, but time is a-wasting. A meeting with Sean O'Malley sounds like a whole lot of fun for everyone.
A Rough Night for the MMA Elders
Court McGee got slept in front of his hometown fans in his retirement bout at age 41. Former lightweight champ Rafael dos Anjos, also 41, didn't fare much better. King Green, 40, did the best he could with Esteban Ribovics, a man 10 years his junior, but he still got stopped late in the first round after getting dropped three times.
Before this fight Green told reporters he understood the thinking behind the UFC's matchmaking. The promotion's goal, he said, was to move the younger, cheaper talent in and the older, more expensive fighters out. He's spent the past 13 years in the UFC. In the dog-eat-dog world of the lighter weight classes, that's almost a miracle.
But you can't keep that up forever. Time catches up to everyone eventually. It's just that, in professional fighting, it wallops you upside the head a bunch of times when it catches you. Nobody said it would be fun, but it does tend to be decisive.
