It wasn’t long ago that we were just a few weeks out from this card and there was no main event. Then they interrupted the UFC Paris broadcast to let us know that they locked up an incredible fight to headline UFC 322 in salt lake city. Then they announced this fight and twitter went crazy trashing it. Listen, is this a mega fight, no, is it an important one, yes? I actually like this fight and frankly I would much rather watch this than see Valentina turn into a Nurmagomedov again. Not only this fight, but the entire main card is 100% free on CBS. This is the first time ever that has happened. If you remember we had a handful of fights from the UFC 326 card, but not the entire main card. Point being, I’ll take this card at $0 then another Apex fight night on a paid platform.
Cong in all likelihood is the better pure striker in this matchup. Her striking is elite and she has spent her entire life working on it. Unfortunately, this isn’t a kickboxing match its an MMA fight and Natalia Silva is the much better MMA fighter. Her movement is fantastic, he timing is fantastic, the speed is impressive and I think this is a pretty straight forward fight. Ive seen Natalia out wrestle wrestlers and out strike strikers. Her last 3 wins are all over former world champions with all 3 of them being strikers. I don’t think Cong does anything that Natalia hasn’t already seen. Maybe I’m way too confident in a lady fight, but I am pretty locked in on Natalia winning.
Natalia Silva
Natalia Silva is a well rounded fighter who is always fun to watch. She has technical striking but will occasionally wing punches from her hips and work in spinning attacks. She does a good job baiting opponents into a striking match before committing to wrestling. She has solid upper body takedowns and then good control on top. She doesn’t have a ton of power, but her footwork and timing have gotten her a pair of UFC finishes. She is coming off the decision win over Rose Namajunas
Cong Wang
Cong Wang is a professional kickboxer who made the leap to MMA. I mention this every time I break Cong down, but just a reminder she beat Valentina Shevchenko in kickboxing. She fights exactly how you would expect a decorated kickboxer to fight. She has incredible striking with power and speed and now it looks like she has a handful of takedowns as well. So far her takedown defense has looked solid, but she hasn’t fought anyone great yet. She is coming off the decision win over Tracy Cortez where she dominated the striking.
