Credit: Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko is reportedly injured and unable to fight in the rumored UFC 332 main event.

The UFC matchmakers will reportedly have to go down alternative avenues to book a main event for UFC 332 after their rumored initial plan hit a roadblock.

UFC women’s flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko, who hasn’t fought since defeating Zhang Weili last year at UFC 322, was rumored to fight in the UFC 332 main event against top contender Natalia Silva. Silva, who has earned recent wins over former titleholders Rose Namajunas, Alexa Grasso, and Jessica Andrade, is the consensus No. 1 contender in the division.

With just about a month to go before UFC 332 in Salt Lake City, the card remains without an announced main event booking. Despite recent rumors that Shevchenko vs. Silva would headline the card, those plans were scratched due to unfortunate circumstances.

Ag.Fight was the first to report the news of Shevchenko’s injury. As of this writing, the nature of Shevchenko’s injury remains undisclosed.

Valentina Shevchenko vs. Natalia Silva canceled for UFC 332 as card remains without headliner

It’s also uncertain if Silva still plans to fight at UFC 332 in a potential interim title bout during Shevchenko’s hiatus. Originally, the UFC was expected to book an interim light heavyweight title bout for UFC 332 amidst champion Carlos Ulberg’s injury recovery, but nothing has materialized.

As of this writing, the arguably highest-profile bout on the card features bantamweights Payton Talbott vs. Deiveson Figueiredo, leaving the matchmakers without an ideal option to promote to the main event slot.

A women’s bantamweight bout between Kayla Harrison and Amanda Nunes could be an option, but Harrison is coming off neck surgery and will need ample time to cut down to 135 lbs. UFC 332 continues to be one of the biggest unknowns of the year as October 3rd quickly approaches.

What potential fight do you want to headline UFC 332? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

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