Valentina Shevchenko has withdrawn from UFC 332 with an undisclosed injury, leaving the Oct. 3 event in Salt Lake City without a championship fight.
As MMA Mania first reported, the flyweight champion pulled out of her scheduled bout against Natalia Silva less than a month before the Delta Center card. Brazilian outlet Ag. Fight initially broke the news Tuesday afternoon. The UFC has since removed the matchup from its website.
What UFC 332 Loses With Shevchenko Withdrawal
The cancellation strips the Paramount Plus-streamed card of its top billing. Shevchenko versus Silva was set to anchor the event after the promotion struggled to lock down a light heavyweight interim title fight. The current highest-ranked bout features former bantamweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo against Payton Talbott in a back-of-the-top-10 clash.
At Tuesday’s Contender Series press conference, UFC CEO Dana White said the promotion would announce a main event “this week,” per MMA Mania. The UFC faces a scheduling crunch across multiple weight classes. Flyweight champion Joshua Van competes at UFC 331, while bantamweight champ Petr Yan and featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski fight at UFC 333. Lightweight titleholder Justin Gaethje is recovering from hand injuries.
Welterweight champion Islam Makhachev just fought at UFC 330. Middleweight champ Sean Strickland is dealing with a shoulder issue, light heavyweight titleholder Carlos Ulberg is recovering from knee surgery, and heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is not expected back until November. On the women’s side, strawweight champ Mackenzie Dern competed at UFC 330 and bantamweight titleholder Kayla Harrison remains sidelined after neck surgery.
The UFC has not disclosed a timeline for Shevchenko’s return or announced a replacement main event for the Oct. 3 card.
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MMA Mania — UFC 332 loses Valentina Shevchenko-led main event, leaving Salt Lake City without a championship fight