Natalia Silva took a major step toward championship gold Saturday night at UFC 324, defeating former strawweight champion Rose Namajunas to secure her place as the next title challenger for flyweight queen Valentina Shevchenko.
Silva (20-5-1) earned a hard-fought win over the former two-time strawweight champion in a very close matchup. She acknowledged the opening round was tight, but believed she took control of the fight from there.
“Before the third round my coach, Carlos, he said listen Natalia, this is it. You need to win this round, you need go to for it. So that’s what I did,” Silva told reporters including Cageside Press through a translator at her post-fight scrum.
“Turned up a notch and went for it to win that round. The first round yes very tight, but the more significant strikes, the more forceful strikes were mine.”
Up next for Silva is likely a title shot against Shevchenko later this year, and the timing couldn’t be bigger. The matchup would be set to take place on one of the UFC’s most anticipated events of the year, giving Silva a massive stage for her first shot at gold.
“That’s what should happen and that’s what the UFC told me. That I was going to get a title fight. I accepted this fight when the UFC came calling. I don’t know what happened to Alexa (Grasso) I understand she was injured and she couldn’t be here. I did not have to accept this fight, I accepted this fight on short-notice,” she said.
“My birthday’s coming up this February 3rd, and that would be an amazing birthday gift. I think Dana (White) should give that to me as a gift. That would be a tremendous birthday gift to receive the call for a fight in the White House against Valentina for a title.”
Watch the entire post-fight scrum with Natalia Silva above.
