Viviane Araujo remains focused on winning the UFC belt and stopping hyped prospects like Karine Silva

Viviane Araujo has faced some of the best available in the UFC flyweight division, from contenders to prospects, and is once again paired against a rising up-and-comer.

Days away from turning 38, Araujo fights Karine Silva at Saturday night’s UFC 309 in New York to send a message to the division.

Araujo has won six of 11 fights since joining the promotion in 2019, defeating the likes of Jennifer Maia, Roxanne Modafferi and Alexis Davis, but stumbled – but never finished – in front of future champion Alexa Grasso and younger prospect in Natalia Silva and Amanda Ribas.

Facing the fourth Brazilian opponent in a row, a sign that “Brazilian women are doing well in MMA”, Araujo sees “a lot of potential” in 30-year-old “Killer” Silva. At UFC 309, however, she will make sure the experience factor is too much for the Gile Ribeiro Team talent.

“It’s not that simple,” Araujo laughed during an interview with MMA Fighting. “I was already ranked in the top 10 after I made my UFC debut in 2019 and I’m still here and there’s a reason for that. I do my job and I don’t fool around. I don’t pick opponents and they bring tougher and tougher high level girls. I keep proving that I deserve to be here.

“My goal is to keep climbing and not let these young girls get here. My goal is to fight for the belt and get to the top. I want to fight a girl who is hyped and show my potential, show that it’s not is that simple. I’m ready to climb another step too.”

Araujo’s last 10 UFC fights ended via decision, the only finish being a short-notice bantamweight victory over Talita Bernardo, and she misses a shorter night in the cage.

“We train to put on a show for MMA fans,” Araujo said. “We know fans go crazy when a fight ends in a knockout or submission, so we always look for that. I train to make sure I don’t leave it in the hands of the referees because someone makes a mistake. My goal is to feel that feeling again, the knockout or the submission.”

“I’ve watched and studied her fights a lot, she’s coming up in the division and has a lot of weapons, so we have to pay attention,” she continued. “I’ve seen some holes in her fights so I know it’s going to be an interesting fight for the fans. I expect anything and she can. I’m a black belt in jiu-jitsu so I don’t know whether she will go to ground with me. I was never submitted in my career. I know she has weapons to stand or fight with me, but I am ready for all that.”