Silva Crowned Flyweight Queen as UFC 332 Goes Knockout Mad

Natalia Silva did the job the long way. Five rounds, three scorecards, 48-47, 48-47, 49-46, and the vacant women's flyweight title finally has a name attached to it again. Wang Cong pushed her the distance and lost the closer rounds on the cards, but Silva's volume and pace were enough to get the job done without a finish on a night that was otherwise obsessed with them.

That's because UFC 332 set a promotion record for finishes, eleven in fourteen fights, nine of them knockouts inside the first round. Four fighters walked away with six-figure bonus checks for stoppages, and the card earned its reputation as one of the more violent nights of the year almost by accident.

Payton Talbott did his part for that reputation. The bantamweight prospect finished former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo in the co-main event, then used the microphone afterward to ask for Sean O'Malley next. Big talk, but he backed it up first.

Down the card, Roberto Soldic made his octagon debut count with a clean decision win over Khaos Williams, the kind of quiet, competent performance that tends to get overshadowed on a night full of first-round finishes but shouldn't be.

Talbott leaves Salt Lake City with the most to show for it. Finishing a former champion and then calling out the bantamweight champion in the same breath is the sort of move that either ages well or gets forgotten fast, but for one night it made him the fighter everyone was talking about, title fight included.

Reporting from Yahoo MMA, ESPN MMA, Sherdog.