UFC 332 Two Days Out, Pereira's Mystery Foe, Van vs Kape Heats Up

We summarize the day's news in our own words. Full credit to the outlets below for the original reporting, click through to read their work:

• Main Card Results | UFC 332: Silva vs Wang (UFC News)
• Official Scorecards | UFC 332: Silva vs Wang (UFC News)
• Rhys McKee targets PFL rankings in Ernesto Rodriguez clash (Sherdog)
• Preview: UFC 332 ‘Silva vs. Wang’ (Sherdog Articles)
• Preview: UFC 332 ‘Silva vs. Wang’ (Yahoo Sports MMA)
• No Bets Barred: Can Wang Cong Upset Natalia Silva and add some life to women’s 125-pound division at UFC 332? (MMA Fighting)
• Natália Silva and Wang Cong have first face-off before UFC 332; see (Ag. Fight (BR))
• UFC 332’s best betting props, parlays and picks | Silva vs. Wang (MMA Mania)
• UFC finisher Damian Pinas: ‘They were counting me out’ (Sherdog)
• UFC finisher Damian Pinas: ‘They were counting me out’ (Yahoo Sports MMA)
• Esteban Ribovics takes unusual steps to prepare for King Green at UFC 332 (Sherdog)
• Alex Pereira Teases Massive UFC Fight News: ‘Big Challenge’ (Yahoo Sports MMA)
• Dana White confirms he’ll announce Alex Pereira’s next fight during UFC 332 KICK stream (Bloody Elbow)
• Alex Pereira’s Career at Heavyweight Could Be Over if He Loses to Sergei Pavlovich (Yahoo Sports MMA)
• Payton Talbott says he ‘reinvented’ himself ahead of UFC 332 (Sherdog)
• Josh Hokit Wants to Send Alex Pereira’s BBL to Hell: “Auraless “ (LowKick MMA)
• Paddy Pimblett pitches The Ultimate Fighter showdown with Ilia Topuria (The Mac Life)
• Paddy Pimblett targeting The Ultimate Fighter role against Ilia Topuria: ‘I’d get under his skin so much’ (Bloody Elbow)
• Paddy Pimblett calls to settle Ilia Topuria feud on The Ultimate Fighter before grudge match (BJPenn.com)
• Dana White “Operates Like a Slave Owner” Says Heavyweight Boxer (LowKick MMA)
• UFC Champion Joshua Van Mocks Manel Kape's Physique; Angolan Responds (Ag. Fight (BR))
• Joshua Van & Manel Kape trade personal shots as UFC title feud heats up (Sherdog)
• Joshua Van calls for Manel Kape fight next (MMA Weekly)
• Manel Kape responds to Joshua Van's Callout (r/MMA)
• Joshua Van, Manel Kape fire shots at each other ahead of potential title fight: ‘Finally came out of hiding’ (BJPenn.com)
• Tyson Fury: Dana White Got Me Back Into America With One Donald Trump Conversation (LowKick MMA)

Welcome to Open Scoring MMA. This is episode 105 for October first, 2026, your daily look at what's happening now and next across the world of MMA and UFC. DUKE: Two days out from UFC 332 in Salt Lake City, and we're getting a brand new women's flyweight champion no matter what happens Saturday.
NORA: Natalia Silva versus Wang Cong, for the belt Valentina Shevchenko vacated earlier this year due to an injury.
DUKE: Wait, so the champion's not even in the building? Rough for her, but it hands Wang a real shot at gold on short notice.
NORA: Deiveson Figueiredo against Payton Talbott is also scheduled for UFC 332, a former flyweight champion against a guy who says he's completely reinvented his game.
DUKE: We'll get into that one in a bit.
NORA: Delta Center, Salt Lake City, Saturday, on Paramount Plus.
DUKE: Two days away, let's get moving. Card news. Let's start outside the UFC for a second.
NORA: PFL's heading to Dubai, and they just added Rhys McKee against Ernesto Rodriguez at welterweight.
DUKE: McKee's chasing rankings with that one.
NORA: Right, a strong welterweight pool over there, win this and he climbs, lose it and he's back to square one.
DUKE: Back to UFC 332, because the previews aren't exactly glowing about the top of the card.
NORA: Yeah, the read out there is it's a solid card that's badly in need of a real main event.
DUKE: Harsh.
NORA: The Silva versus Wang headliner is stretched thin for a show carrying a vacant title, but everything underneath it makes a lot of sense.
DUKE: And again, that whole situation only exists because Shevchenko got hurt.
NORA: Exactly, this is a replacement main event, not the fight anyone circled back in January. And it's worth saying, this is the first time in a while the hundred twenty five pound division gets a fresh name at the top.
DUKE: Could go a long way toward fixing a division that's leaned on one dominant champion for years.
NORA: Silva and Wang already had their face off too, Tuesday, right on the facade of the Delta Center.
DUKE: And the betting markets are loaded with props and parlays already, so the books clearly think this one's live regardless of the hype gap.
NORA: Can Wang actually pull the upset and give that division some juice? That's the entire pitch for Saturday.
DUKE: Fighter news. Damian Pinas says the league finally sees him different.
NORA: His whole point is people were counting him out, and his rise inside the UFC flipped that fast.
DUKE: One good run changes perception quick in this sport.
NORA: It does. One finish nobody expects and suddenly you're not a stepping stone anymore, you're a problem.
DUKE: Staying on UFC 332, Esteban Ribovics is doing something unusual in camp for King Green.
NORA: Reports say he's taken some non traditional prep steps, which tells you he respects how awkward Green's veteran craft really is.
DUKE: Green's been around forever, you don't prepare for that guy like anyone else.
NORA: Now the big one.
DUKE: Last one here, Payton Talbott says he reinvented himself before Deiveson Figueiredo.
NORA: Extended break, came back saying his whole game evolved. Against a former champion like that, this fight actually tells us if the reinvention's real or just talk.
DUKE: Callouts. Josh Hokit's not letting up on Alex Pereira.
NORA: He's calling Pereira's whole aesthetic auraless and wants to send what he's calling his BBL somewhere unpleasant.
DUKE: Harsh.
NORA: Hokit's undefeated and clearly treats Pereira as his signature rival, even with nothing actually booked between them.
DUKE: Pure call out energy, but it keeps his name in the bigger conversation.
NORA: Right.
DUKE: Now the one I actually care about. Paddy's pitching something genius.
NORA: Paddy Pimblett wants The Ultimate Fighter as a coaching showdown against Ilia Topuria before they ever actually fight.
DUKE: Six weeks of Paddy living in Topuria's head? Come on, that's must watch television.
NORA: He said, quote, "The Ultimate Fighter would be a very entertaining six weeks to say the least if it was me and him," end quote.
DUKE: Classic Paddy.
NORA: And knowing him, he'd probably pull it off too.
DUKE: Switching gears, Derek Chisora had some harsh words for Dana White.
NORA: He told LowKick, quote, "Dana White, he's not my cup of tea, to be honest with you," end quote, then said the way White runs things is, quote, "he operates like a slave owner, man," end quote.
DUKE: Strong words from a ranked heavyweight boxer who clearly wants nothing to do with that world.
NORA: He closed with, quote, "you're not good enough for me, so go away," end quote.
DUKE: No middle ground there.
NORA: None.
DUKE: Flyweight gold now, because Joshua Van and Manel Kape are genuinely going at each other online.
NORA: Van mocked Kape's physique, Kape fired right back, and Van's already called for Kape as his next title defense.
DUKE: Van is a champion and a target for every contender in that division.
NORA: And Kape's been positioning for a title shot for a while now, so this isn't coming out of nowhere.
DUKE: Finally came out of hiding was his line, so Van clearly thinks Kape's been ducking this.
NORA: This is the next flyweight title fight building in real time, and the trash talk's doing the UFC's promotion for them.
DUKE: Before we move on, the X crowd's buzzing about fight week in general too.
NORA: Yeah, fans on X are locked into the business side of fight week, not just who's fighting who.
DUKE: Business. Tyson Fury says Dana White personally fixed his visa problems.
NORA: He told LowKick, quote, "It all got done through Dana, on Donald Trump's table," end quote.
DUKE: White using his pull with an actual sitting president to get a boxer back into the country.
NORA: And Trump's side was simple, quote, "Tyson's a great guy, come on in," end quote.
DUKE: Shows how far White's reach goes outside the cage these days.
NORA: It's not just matchmaking anymore, it's visas and White House calls. And it's a reminder how intertwined the fight business and politics have gotten this year.
DUKE: No kidding.
NORA: Brendan Allen takes on Christian Leroy Duncan.
DUKE: Allen's chasing momentum in the middleweight picture there. Two very different cards back to back. Before we get to today's pick, I gotta ask about this situation.
NORA: We're looking at a fighter making his UFC debut, and he's apparently got real pop in his hands.
DUKE: A debuting guy with multiple first round knockouts, that's the kind of fighter that makes you nervous picking against.
NORA: It is. Live finishing power's always the scary variable a model can't fully see coming.
DUKE: So why doesn't that show up bigger in whatever number you've got?
NORA: Because our model's still off the betting market on this one, by about six point three points.
DUKE: Which direction?
NORA: We like the favorite even more than Vegas does.
DUKE: Huh.
NORA: Yeah. Let's get into it properly.
DUKE: Okay, give me the actual pick.
NORA: We've got the favorite at eighty eight percent.
DUKE: And the betting line?
NORA: The favorite's sitting at minus nine ten, which prices him right around that same eighty eight percent mark.
DUKE: So we're not actually that far off the number.
NORA: No, but we're calling this a strong, confident pick, not just a lean.
DUKE: Walk me through this fighter, because nobody knows this name yet.
NORA: He's making his UFC debut, and he's got a real finishing rate, multiple first round knockouts on his record.
DUKE: That's the scary part for the favorite, a live puncher who's never been tested at this level.
NORA: Right, but that same debut status cuts both ways, it can also mean he just hasn't faced real high level competition.
DUKE: So the power's real, the resume's just thin.
NORA: Exactly, and that's a red flag the model weighs heavy.
DUKE: I still think a puncher like that only needs one shot. You know that.
NORA: Sure, but across a whole fight, the numbers favor the favorite handling it.
DUKE: The favorite it is.
NORA: The favorite.
DUKE: That's gonna do it for today.
NORA: UFC 332 is two days out, we'll be back before Silva and Wang walk to the cage.
One more thing before we go. That's our call. Who are you taking? Tell us in the comments. And while you're here, two quick ones. Our free Fight Tracker is at tracker dot open scoring m m a dot com, with every upcoming UFC and PFL card, live odds, and where to watch, all in one place. And follow us on YouTube, just search Open Scoring MMA, for breaking news alerts, fight breakdowns, and videos you won't get here on the feed. DUKE: Before we go, a quick word on our OSM Pick for the week.
NORA: Our model's pick this week is Jacobe Smith, over Bruce Whitehead.
That's it for today's Open Scoring MMA. Keep your hands up, and we'll see you next time.