Valentina
Shevchenko recently vacated her UFC women's flyweight title to
deal with an injury. Natalia
Silva will now fight Cong Wang for
the vacant flyweight title at UFC
332 on Oct. 3 at Delta Arena in Salt Lake City. This caused a
stir, as an interim title would be the option in such scenarios,
but Shevchenko vacating the belt has sparked a discussion online
about inconsistent practices on the UFC's part.

Paulo Costa questions why Alex Pereira is ranked No. 4 at
heavyweight

Professional Fighters League women's featherweight champ
Cris
Cyborg recently noted that UFC women's bantamweight champion
Kayla
Harrison has been inactive longer than Shevchenko. Cyborg
argues that if inactivity is the criterion, Harrison should also be
stripped of her title.

Costa supported Cyborg’s claim while slamming the UFC over a
discrepancy in its practices for different fighters. “Borrachinhaâ€
can't comprehend why former light heavyweight champion Alex
Pereira is ranked in the UFC's official heavyweight rankings
despite having never won at heavyweight.

“Yeah it’s really inconvenient; the UFC doesn't have a consistent
standard of behavior or set of rules—they use double standards all
the time,†Costa wrote on X. “Another thing is, why on earth is
Alex still ranked at Light Heavyweight after fighting and losing at
Heavyweight? And why is he ranked 4th at Heavyweight without a
single win there—ahead of [Josh
Hokit]?â€

Pereira (13-4) vacated his light heavyweight title earlier this
year and moved up to heavyweight, where he came up short against
Ciryl
Gane in a bid for the interim title at
UFC Freedom 250. Meanwhile, Costa (16-4) has been accusing the
UFC of not offering him a suitable matchup for the last remaining
fight on his current contract.

The former UFC title challenger has been training with A.J. McKee,
who is set to challenge Rajabali
Shaidullaev for the
Rizin featherweight title and the vacant
Professional Fighters League featherweight title at Super
Rizin 5 on Sept. 5 in Osaka, Japan.

Brian Ortega says elite fighters outside the UFC can humble its
roster

McKee and Ortega have been working together in preparation for
their upcoming bouts, with the latter set to return at UFC
331. “T-City†recently lauded the former Bellator
champion's elite skill set and believes that some UFC fighters
would get humbled by fighters from other promotions. According to
Ortega, the UFC doesn't sign some fighters because it understands
the threat they pose.

“The UFC is just a marketing machine,†Ortega said on Anatomy of a
Fighter. “There [are] people outside [the UFC] that would whoop us,
and they know it. They are not inviting them. There are people who
dedicate their lives to this and you see it. There's no faking
technique and skill; the heart and even the mindset… I know [McKee]
knows what he is doing and he is at the highest level.â€

Ortega (16-5) will look to rebound from two losses when he runs it
back with Renato
“Money†Moicano (21-7) at UFC
331 on Sept. 19 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. Meanwhile,
McKee (25-2) is on a three-fight winning streak going into his
clash against the undefeated Shaidullev (19-0), who has a 100%
finishing rate.

Zalal has trained at Factory X in Englewood, Colorado, for most of
his professional career. However, “The Moroccan Devil†was recently
seen training at ONX with Trevor Wittman, the longtime coach of

Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion Justin
Gaethje.

Youssef Zalal explains why he left Factory X and is talking to
Trevor Wittman

Zalal (18-6-1) has since confirmed that he has parted ways with
Factory X. He admits that Factory X head coach Marc Montoya has
been a father figure to him throughout his career. However, Zalal
believes he needs to look elsewhere for further growth at this
stage in his career.

“I had my little situations with my team,†Zalal told MMA Junkie.
“Few changes happened. It's a lot crazier on my side. I'm
definitely no longer fighting from Factory X. Marc Montoya has
obviously been nothing but a father figure, a mentor, for almost
all my life… As a kid, I've grown in the program and that kind of
changed. Where I'm at in my life, I still need growth… Trevor is
the guy I'm talking to right now.â€

Zalal's forgettable first UFC stint ended in 2022 with a 3-3-1
record. He returned to the UFC in 2024 and went undefeated in five
straight outings, with four finishes, before losing to Aljamain
Sterling this past April.