Dana White Says Wang Cong Title Shot Was the Decision UFC Made
Dana White did not list a win, a ranking, or a style point when he was asked why Wang Cong got the first shot at the vacant flyweight title. At the UFC 332 press conference, he said the matchup was the call the promotion made, then pointed to the streak Natalia Silva is carrying into Saturday.
A reporter asked what White had seen from Wang that made her the right opponent for the open belt. “so what did you see from Wang Kong that she, that you thought she deserved the first shot at this vacant title?” he said, using the wrong name for the Chinese flyweight seated to White’s left. White answered from the podium with Silva on one side and Wang on the other, the championship belt on the table between them.
“Yeah, I mean, we’re always trying to find out who the best is,” White said. “That’s, that’s what we care about.” He did not describe a specific performance. “So in making this fight, Wang, you know, Wang, Wang was the, was the decision we made,” he said. He then turned to the other side of the matchup. “Natalya, obviously, on a 14-fight win streak. we’ll see.”
That is the whole explanation he offered. The belt is vacant because Valentina Shevchenko gave it up, not because either woman beat her for it. Shevchenko was booked to defend against Silva on October 3 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.
Coach Pavel Fedotov said ligament damage in the shoulder and back made that date impossible, and that the recovery would take long enough that the team chose to vacate rather than rush the fight. He said Shevchenko plans to fight for the title again once she is healthy. The UFC has said she could be out close to a year.
Shevchenko leaves as a two-time champion who made nine flyweight defenses, the most by a woman in UFC history. Her last defense was a win over Zhang Weili on November 15, 2025, at UFC 322 in New York. The promotion put the undisputed belt on Saturday’s card instead of creating an interim title. CBS and Paramount+ will carry the first full UFC main card to air live on CBS.
Silva, 29, brings the streak White cited, including an unbeaten run since her 2022 UFC debut. The original plan was Shevchenko. Silva has said the goal was a title fight, and that the opponent changed without changing that goal.
Wang is 10-1 as a professional, with her only loss coming against Gabriella Fernandes in November 2024. Her most recent win was a decision over Tracy Cortez on July 11. She also beat Shevchenko in a 2015 kickboxing match, a result that has followed her into the MMA title talk.
White’s answer leaves the case for Wang where he put it: the UFC wanted to find out who is best, and this was the pairing it chose. Saturday night in Salt Lake City is the first time either woman can settle that on a championship card.
