Natalia
Silva’s team believes her upcoming title bout will be a treat
for fans.
Silva is scheduled to face Cong Wang for
the vacant
Ultimate Fighting Championship women’s flyweight title on Oct.
3 at Delta Center in Salt Lake City. The bout came together after
Valentina
Shevchenko vacated the crown because of injury. The Brazilian’s
coach recently previewed the matchup, which is set to headline
UFC
332.
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Carlos Costa calls Natalia Silva and Wang Cong the division’s
two best strikers
According to Silva’s coach, Carlos
Costa, the camp had originally been built around Shevchenko
before Wang replaced her.
“We had been preparing for Valentina for months and doing a full
technical study of the champion,” Costa told Sherdog. “We were
especially focused on takedowns, since Valentina had been taking
down a lot of her opponents. Our main focus was timing on entries
and distance control. When the UFC told us she was out of the
fight, and it happened somewhat at the last minute, we completely
changed the focus of our training. It was a huge surprise to us,
especially since Cong was ranked No. 6.”
Despite the change in opponent, Costa expects the matchup to
produce an entertaining striking battle and foresees his pupil
coming out on top.
“Because not many people know Cong, there were complaints about her
being in a main event, but I think a lot of people are going to be
surprised by this fight,” Costa added. “Especially because of their
styles. In my opinion, Natalia and Cong are the two best strikers
in the division. I’m sure that once these girls put on a show in
the Octagon, the public’s perception will change dramatically. I
don’t know if the win will come in the first or fifth round. I just
know victory is coming. Natalia is ready to become the first
Brazilian female champion at 125 pounds.”
Silva (20-5-1) is on a 14-fight win streak and has never tasted
defeat in the UFC. Meanwhile, Wang enters the bout with a 10-1
record and a four-fight winning streak. The Chinese contender most
recently defeated Tracy
Cortez by unanimous decision.