Wang Cong says eye poke led to slow start in first statement following main event loss to Natalia Silva at UFC 332

Wang Cong has attributed her slow start in the UFC 332 main event to an early eye poke, explaining that the injury hampered her performance in her first-ever UFC title fight. The Chinese fighter lost her bid for the women's flyweight championship via unanimous decision to Natalia Silva on Saturday in Salt Lake City, with Silva controlling much of the bout despite Wang's surge in the fifth round.

In a post on Instagram following the loss, Wang acknowledged the setback while pointing to the first-round eye poke as a turning point. "The game is lost. What a pity," Wang wrote, describing how the injury to her right eye affected her vision and delayed her ability to find her rhythm. She noted that by the time she recovered and began to turn up the intensity—particularly in the championship rounds—it was too late to overturn the judges' scorecards.

Silva's victory came in the main event of UFC 332 and crowned her as the new women's flyweight champion, succeeding Valentina Shevchenko, who vacated the title. The promotion's return to Utah delivered drama throughout the card, though the title fight itself proved one-sided for most of the distance. At 34, Wang now faces the prospect of another title run after coming up short in her first attempt at UFC gold.