UFC 332 Declared as Underwhelming As Paulo Costa and Ariel Helwani ‘Expose’ Dana White’s Company

UFC 332 became one of the most criticized fight cards of all time due to the lack of major star power.

UFC 332 Declared as Underwhelming As Paulo Costa and Ariel Helwani ‘Expose’ Dana White’s Company

UFC 332 fight card is catching a lot of flak from the MMA community (Image via BBC/UFC.com)

During the broadcast of UFC Paris, the promotion announced the main card of UFC 332. The numbered event will take place at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 3. The main event features Natalia Silva taking on Wang Cong for the undisputed women’s flyweight title.

Longtime champion Valentina Shevchenko was rumored to be on the card. However, an injury will keep her out for a year. This is why she vacated the title to pave the way for Silva and Cong to fight for the title next.

The UFC 332 main card also features the return of Payton Talbott, who hasn’t competed yet in 2026. He will take on Deiveson Figueiredo in the co-main event.

Popular veteran King Green will take on Esteban Ribovics and knockout artist Ateba Gautier will face Russian striker Roman Kopylov on the main card.

The X-factor of the main card is the UFC debut of Roberto Soldic, who is a former KSW champion like new signing Salhadine Parnasse. Soldic will take on Khaos Williams. MMA fans always wanted to see Soldic fight in the UFC. However, that is not where the criticism for the card comes from.

The fight card for UFC 332 is solid if it was just a Fight Night card. So far in 2026, all the numbered cards has had big names taking on each other ranging from Justin Gaethje vs Paddy Pimblett, Alexander Volkanovski vs Diego Lopes, and Conor McGregor vs Max Holloway to name a few.

Natalia Silva and Wang Cong are not major names. Fans felt that they are a co-main event attraction at best. The comment section on UFC’s announcement on X consists of the fanbase brutally mocking the post.

Two prominent members of the MMA community, Paulo Costa and Ariel Helwani, has criticized the UFC’s lack of passion towards the sport.

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Paulo Costa exposes Dana White’s company for not adding another title fight on UFC 332

Brazilian star Paulo Costa has never shied away from criticizing the UFC top brass. After having an inconsistent run these last few years, Costa has rejuvenated himself with a two-fight winning streak at the moment.

Paulo Costa wanted an interim title bout at UFC 332
Paulo Costa wanted an interim title bout at UFC 332 (Image via MMA Mania/UFC.com)

The Brazilian defeated the previously undefeated Azamat Murzakanov at UFC 327 to announce his arrival in the light heavyweight division. With champion Carlos Ulberg out injured till sometime next year, UFC 332 could have had an interim title fight.

Costa questioned the logic of the promotion not wanting an extra title fight on UFC 332 on X after the main card was released online.

UFC stripped Valentina out from her Belt due injury. Also Carlos Ulberg is injured and maybe fight second semester 2027. Put the LHW interim belt in line and I will come to save the LHW division! UFC refused to put LWH interim belt on line. Why? I don’t know.

Paulo Costa wrote on X

Adding another title fight would have made this card a lot better. If Ulberg is returning only by the second quarter of 2027, this was the perfect card to have a light heavyweight interim title fight.

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Ariel Helwani warns fans about new reality following UFC 332 announcement

MMA insider Ariel Helwani is among the foremost critic of Dana White. In recent times, Helwani has pointed out the lack of passion from White on many occasions.

Ariel Helwani explained why UFC 332 lacked star power
Ariel Helwani explained why UFC 332 lacked star power (Image via SB Nation)

Helwani admitted that UFC 332 as a Fight Night card would have been fine. However, he also warned fans that numbered cards means nothing anymore and declared the old model as dead.

Issue is people are still fixated on the idea of numbered events meaning more. They don’t. They cost the same. There’s literally no difference. And guess what? Over the course of the next 7 years you’ll get more numbered events like this. Get used to it. We wanted PPV die, right? And with that dies the urgency to stack the deck for the numbered events. And let’s be honest, that trend started long ago which led to this.

Ariel Helwani wrote on X

The new reality is that there are going to be some numbered cards that will turn out exactly like UFC 332. Scheduling conflicts and injuries will prevent the promotion from adding major star power into certain numbered UFC events.

It remains to be seen how Dana White or the top UFC brass will defend the card quality of UFC 332 after intense criticism.

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