LAS VEGAS – Karine Silva wants to make sure she takes the necessary steps before reaching title contention.
Boasting a 100 percent finish rate, Silva (16-4 MMA, 2-0 UFC) continued her tear through the flyweight division when she scored a knee-popping submission of Ketlen Souza in this past Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 45 event at the UFC Apex.
Silva has aspirations of becoming UFC champion but doesn’t have a name in mind for her next fight. The Brazilian just wants an opponent that moves her forward in the rankings.
“Obviously I don’t see a line coming up to fight me,” Silva told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter. “I want to fight as soon as possible. As I said before, this was a step that I took. The direction of what I want to achieve is to be a champion.
“Meaning the opponent, whoever it is, the opponent that’s put in front of me, I want somebody that gets me closer to that goal. So, whoever the UFC wants to put in front of me, that’s fine. I’m ready to fight in August. If you’re ready, I’m ready. Again, whoever lines up, I’ll do it.”
With her exciting fight-finishing style, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Silva was pushed by the UFC despite only having two fights in the octagon. Silva would accept a big step up in competition but won’t ask for it.
“If they put a top-15 in front of me, I’ll face her, yes,” Silva said. “But I don’t want to get ahead of myself because, as I said, I want to ensure that every step of the way here is actually pretty on the ground and very strong. You need to keep yourself at bay and in order to do that, you need to take things one step at a time.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 45.
