New UFC women’s flyweight champion Natalia Silva says she will not hold the belt for Valentina Shevchenko, telling MMA Fighting that the contenders already in line come first.
Silva beat Wang Cong by unanimous decision at UFC 332 in Salt Lake City on Oct. 3 to win the vacant title Shevchenko gave up with shoulder and back injuries. Shevchenko congratulated her on X and added, “keep it warm, I’m coming soon for my belt!”
Silva did not let it pass. “The first thing she already got wrong in that post was talking about how the belt is hers,” she said in an interview with MMA Fighting after the win.
She then went after the belt line itself. “She wasn’t even keeping it warm herself. She would take a year between fights. She was fighting once a year, and now she’s talking about keeping the belt warm?”
Silva did not shut the door on a Shevchenko fight. She said they could fight when Shevchenko returns if no other fight needs to happen first, but that the rankings and the queue have to be considered because other flyweights are doing well and deserve their turn. She also said she wants to be an active champion.
That sits next to a report from Ariel Helwani, who said Monday on The Ariel Helwani Show that Shevchenko did not willingly give up the belt and that the UFC told her she would get the title fight when she comes back. Silva’s version leaves room for a Shevchenko fight but not a guarantee of one.
Alexa Grasso, whom Silva beat at UFC 315, is the expected front-runner for a first defense, though nothing has been made official. Shevchenko is still recovering from the injuries that forced her out of the UFC 332 main event.
