Fight Week’s 5 Fights to Watch This Week: September 28–October 4
A new UFC women’s flyweight champion will be crowned in Salt Lake City, Ben Whittaker takes another major step toward a world-title opportunity, and one of American boxing’s best young prospects returns home.
October arrives with a weekend that belongs largely to UFC 332, but boxing fans still have a couple of intriguing fights worth making time for.
The UFC heads to Salt Lake City with a vacant world championship at the top of the card and several fights designed to answer questions about some of the promotion’s fastest-rising contenders. Boxing, meanwhile, offers an important light-heavyweight eliminator in Birmingham and a Friday-night showcase for Olympic medalist Omari Jones in Orlando.
Here are Fight Week’s 5 Fights to Watch This Week.
1. Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong
MMA — Vacant UFC Women’s Flyweight Championship
Saturday, October 3 — Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
CBS / Paramount+
For the first time in years, the UFC women’s flyweight division is preparing to crown a new champion.
Valentina Shevchenko relinquished the championship after informing the UFC that she would be unable to compete for at least a year. That created an unexpected opportunity for No. 1-ranked Natalia Silva and No. 8 Wang Cong, who now meet for the vacant title in Saturday’s UFC 332 main event.
Silva enters as one of the hottest fighters anywhere in the UFC. She has won 14 consecutive fights and arrives after victories over former champions Rose Namajunas, Alexa Grasso and Jessica Andrade. Her speed, movement and ability to attack from unusual angles have steadily carried her from promising prospect to championship contender.
Wang’s rise has been much faster. The Chinese striker is 10-1 as a professional and has won four consecutive UFC fights since suffering her only career defeat. She most recently defeated Tracy Cortez in July and brings an extensive striking background that includes sanda, kickboxing and boxing experience.
This should be a very different type of title fight from many championship matchups built around wrestling and control. Both women are most comfortable striking, both can maintain a fast pace, and both have enough variety to make adjustments as the fight develops.
Why watch: A new champion will be crowned, and two of the division’s most creative strikers get five rounds to determine who takes over at 125 pounds.
2. Ben Whittaker vs. Conor Wallace
Boxing — Light Heavyweight World Title Eliminator
Saturday, October 3 — Utilita Arena Birmingham, England
DAZN
Ben Whittaker has spent much of his professional career being discussed as a future world-title challenger.
Saturday represents a chance to move much closer to making that future a reality.
The unbeaten Olympic silver medalist enters at 12-0-1 with eight knockouts against Australia’s Conor Wallace, who brings a 17-1 record with 12 stoppages. The fight is scheduled for 12 rounds and headlines Matchroom Boxing’s card in Birmingham.
Whittaker has always possessed the talent and personality to attract attention, but this is the type of fight that begins separating entertaining prospects from legitimate championship contenders. Wallace is experienced, powerful and arrives with little interest in simply becoming another name on Whittaker’s résumé.
The stakes make it even more significant. The matchup is being contested as a final eliminator for the IBF light-heavyweight championship, meaning the winner moves into position for a world-title opportunity.
Whittaker’s movement, reflexes and ability to make opponents miss are obvious strengths. Wallace, however, brings exactly the kind of physical pressure and punching power that could force Whittaker to fight rather than perform.
Why watch: This is the biggest test of Whittaker’s career and the type of matchup that could tell us whether he is ready to join the elite at 175 pounds.
3. Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Payton Talbott
MMA — UFC Bantamweight Co-Main Event
Saturday, October 3 — Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
CBS / Paramount+
Few fights this weekend offer a better contrast between championship experience and emerging talent.
Former two-time UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo, currently ranked No. 9 at bantamweight, faces No. 11-ranked Payton Talbott in the UFC 332 co-main event.
Figueiredo has spent years competing against elite opposition. He understands five-round fights, championship pressure and the small adjustments required when competing at the highest level.
Talbott represents almost the opposite story.
The 11-1 contender began his UFC career with three consecutive finishes before adding increasingly impressive victories, including a dominant win over former two-division champion Henry Cejudo. The UFC has clearly identified him as one of the division’s emerging names, and beating Figueiredo would represent another enormous jump.
This is exactly the veteran-versus-prospect matchup that can change a division quickly. If Figueiredo wins, he reminds everyone that championship experience still matters. If Talbott proves he can handle another former champion, his rise through the bantamweight rankings accelerates considerably.
Why watch: A former champion is standing directly between one of the UFC’s hottest young fighters and the upper tier of the bantamweight division.
4. Omari Jones vs. Alan Sanchez
Boxing — Junior Middleweight Bout
Friday, October 2 — Caribe Royale Orlando, Orlando, Florida
DAZN
Friday night gives Fight Week readers a chance to watch one of American boxing’s most interesting young prospects before Saturday’s bigger cards begin.
Omari Jones returns home to Orlando with a perfect 7-0 record and four knockouts to face Mexican veteran Alan Sanchez, who enters at 24-7-1 with 10 knockouts. The fight headlines Matchroom’s second Project Series event at Caribe Royale Orlando.
Jones earned an Olympic bronze medal for the United States in Paris and has moved quickly since entering the professional ranks. The 23-year-old has shown polished fundamentals, athleticism and the ability to control rounds, but at this stage of his development, the question is less about whether he can win and more about how quickly he can begin separating himself from the prospect level.
Sanchez gives him an experienced opponent who has already been through far more professional rounds and has shared the ring with quality opposition. That is exactly what a developing fighter needs before stepping toward championship-level competition.
There is also some intrigue further down the card. Unbeaten Nicaraguan bantamweight Jordon Orozco Hernandez, who has won all 17 of his fights by knockout, faces Yusniel Abrahante for the WBA Continental Gold title.
Why watch: Jones is one of the American prospects worth following closely, and this is another chance to see whether his professional development is beginning to catch up with his amateur pedigree.
5. King Green vs. Esteban Ribovics
MMA — UFC Lightweight Bout
Saturday, October 3 — Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Utah
CBS / Paramount+
Sometimes a fight makes the list simply because it looks almost impossible to be boring.
King Green vs. Esteban Ribovics fits that description.
Green has been fighting high-level opposition for years and enters with a remarkable 36-17-1 professional record. Even this late in his career, he continues to compete at a fast pace and recently stopped Terrance McKinney in July.
Ribovics is at a very different stage of his career. The Argentine lightweight is 16-3, with eight knockouts and five submissions, and comes into UFC 332 after stopping veteran Edson Barboza in August. Seven of his professional victories have ended in the opening round.
Stylistically, neither fighter tends to hide from exchanges. Green’s defense, rhythm and ability to talk his way through a fight make him one of the sport’s more unusual veterans. Ribovics brings aggression and legitimate finishing ability.
For Green, another win shows he can continue frustrating the division’s younger fighters. For Ribovics, beating a recognizable veteran gives him another important name as he pushes toward bigger lightweight opportunities.
Why watch: The styles practically guarantee exchanges, and this has all the ingredients of the fight people are talking about after UFC 332 ends.
Fight Week’s Must-Watch Fight
Natalia Silva vs. Wang Cong gets the top spot this week.
The circumstances alone make it important. Shevchenko’s departure from the championship picture suddenly opens a division she controlled for most of the last decade, and whoever wins Saturday immediately becomes the fighter everyone else at 125 pounds is chasing.
But the matchup is compelling beyond the championship.
Silva has methodically built a 14-fight winning streak and defeated several of the best-known fighters in the division. Wang has taken a much shorter path to the same destination, using her elite striking background and four consecutive UFC victories to earn a championship opportunity.
That gives the main event the feel of two careers arriving at the same point from completely different directions.
For boxing fans, Whittaker vs. Wallace is easily the fight to circle. Whittaker has looked like someone capable of eventually competing for a world championship. Wallace now gets the opportunity to force him to prove it.
And Figueiredo vs. Talbott may be the best test of a rising UFC prospect anywhere on this weekend’s schedule.
Friday starts in Orlando. Saturday moves to Birmingham and Salt Lake City.
Fight Week will be following the biggest boxing and MMA stories throughout the week.
