Outside Source
Natalia Silva might have secured a title shot at UFC 324. | Getty/UFC
Natalia Silva had some additional incentive to accept a short-notice fight against Rose Namajunas at UFC 324 — and now she expects the promotion to live up to its word.
The Brazilian extended her Octagon winning streak to eight with a hard-fought three-round verdict over Namajunas in their flyweight bout on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While it wasn’t her most impressive outing to date, the 28-year-old Team Borracha product is confident that she is next in line to face reigning 125-pound champion Valentina Shevchenko.
“That’s what should happen, and that’s what the UFC told me – that I was going to get a title fight,” Silva said after the bout (transcription via MMAjunkie.com). “Listen: I accepted the fight when the UFC came calling. I don’t know what happened to Alexa [Grasso]. I understand she was injured and couldn’t be here, and [me fighting] was to save the event.
“When the UFC called me and said, ‘This is what you’re going to do,’ I didn’t have to accept this fight. I accepted this fight on short notice. There wasn’t much time to prepare for it. I accepted the fight, I did what I needed to do, and I expect and trusted the UFC – and I hope they follow on that promise because I should be the next one to fight for the title. That’s the fight I expect to get next.”
Shevchenko last appeared at UFC 322 on Nov. 15, when she scored a dominant unanimous decision triumph over former strawweight queen Weili Zhang at Madison Square Garden in New York. Outside of an upset loss to Grasso at UFC 285 and a split draw in their rematch, “Bullet” has been the gold standard in the division since 2018.
An Ideal Birthday Gift
In addition to besting Namajunas, Silva owns notable victories against the likes of Grasso, Jessica Andrade, Viviane Araujo and Jasmine Jasudavicius during her UFC tenure. In an ideal world, she’d like to challenge Shevchenko at the UFC White House event expected to be held in June.
“My birthday is coming up. It’s on Feb. 3. That would be an amazing gift,” Silva said. “I think Dana [White] should give to me as a gift because think about it: I accepted this fight on short notice, high risk. I did what I needed to do. It would be a tremendous birthday gift to get the call to fight in the White House against Valentina.”
During his post-fight session with media, the UFC CEO confirmed that the promotion did promise Silva a title shot if she defeated Namajunas. White did not elaborate beyond a simple “yes” answer to the question, however.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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