Karine Silva thinks win over Viviane Araujo at UFC 309 could make her next flyweight title challenger

NEW YORK – Karine Silva has a theory about her fight Saturday, provided the outcome is the one she’s expecting.

Once Silva (18-4 MMA, 4-0 UFC) has her hand raised against fellow Brazilian Viviane Araujo (12-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC), she surmises, she’ll be installed as the proverbial next big thing in the women’s flyweight division. And that, she thinks, will leave the UFC no choice but to give her a title shot.

And part of that is because she said she has a hard time getting anyone else to take a fight with her.

“Obviously my focus is on Saturday, but I’ve looked at (the title picture) and the biggest difficulty, even though we’re not thinking that far ahead, is getting girls to accept fights,” Silva said. “That’s one of the difficulties we have: Who’s going to take the fight against me?”

Saturday, that is Araujo, who has dropped three of her past four fights. The women meet on the pay-per-view main card Saturday at UFC 309 (pay-per-view, ESPNews/Hulu/FX, ESPN+) at Madison Square Garden in New York.

And though Araujo may not have the same kind of stellar recent run as Silva, who comes in with nine straight wins, all by stoppage, the 30-year-old Silva said there’s no overlooking her.

“She’s a tough fighter, obviously – No. 9 in the ranking does her justice for everything that she’s done. But it’s my turn now. I think I’ve built a lot throughout camp, and on Saturday it’s my turn to grab that victory.”

Check out Silva’s full interview in the video above.

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 309.