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.

They are led by a Euro 2016 hero, have a Giggs in their starting line-up, and boast a goalscorer who is exciting many at Manchester United.

While Wales’ new era continues under Craig Bellamy, the country’s next generation is making a significant step in Scotland this week.

Containing some names that are already familiar to many and some that could yet prove to be household ones of the future, Wales Under-19s have begun their latest European qualifiers.

Managed by 109-cap defender Chris Gunter, their campaign started with a win against the hosts in Stirling.

They clearly impressed former Scotland midfielder Nigel Quashie – whose son, Arsenal’s Brayden Clarke, played at centre-back in the 1-0 win.

“This Wales squad showed signs that this group of players are only going to better,” he posted on X , externalof a team, many of whom – including Clarke – reached the Under-17s Euros finals last summer.

Clarke is not the only former professional’s offspring in the side; Zach Giggs had a hand setting up Wales’ only goal as he donned the same dragon worn 64 times by his father, Manchester United great Ryan.

But, as Wales look ahead to games against France (Saturday, 16 November) and Liechtenstein (Tuesday, 19 November) seeking to progress to the elite round qualifiers in spring and then possibly the first major finals at this age grade, they are not the only youngsters that Welsh football bosses are hoping could be senior stars in the not too distant future.

If Jon Jones plans to fight again after facing Stipe Miocic at UFC 309, he only has one option and that’s a showdown with interim heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall.

That’s according to UFC CEO Dana White, who responded to Jones’ comments leading up to his fight on Saturday where he’s repeatedly shut down a potential fight against Aspinall and instead favored a matchup with UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira. Jones even went as far as saying Aspinall is “such an assh*le that I don’t want to do business with him.”

“He’s not fighting Pereira,” White told Jim Rome when asked about Jones’ plans for the future. “[Pereira] was a middleweight that moved up to light heavyweight. He’s also a kickboxer who has done very, very well in MMA. His wrestling isn’t even near the level of Jon Jones and Jon Jones is way bigger than him.

“If Jon Jones wants to fight again after Saturday night, he will fight Tom Aspinall.”

That’s great news for Aspinall, who is currently in New York to play the backup for the fight between Jones and Miocic on Saturday,

Aspinall claimed the interim heavyweight title almost exactly one year ago after Jones suffered a torn pectoral muscle that forced him to delay the fight against Miocic. In the meantime, Aspinall defended his interim belt with a stunning first-round knockout over Curtis Blaydes back in July.

Since then, Aspinall has repeatedly called for the fight against Jones while stating that he’s facing Miocic for the “most disputed title” in the UFC.

Everything Aspinall said has only caused Jones to dig in his heels that much more whenever he addresses the potential fight but White says that’s the only matchup he’s willing to make.

“Jon’s weird in how he deals with this type of stuff,” White said. “Like he’ll show up for a fight like this, he’ll be prepared mentally, physically, and everything else and then when the fight’s over, he sort of goes and disappears and he wants to challenge himself again and Tom Aspinall is there. He’s doing the whole ‘he doesn’t deserve it’ … but Jon when was 23 years old and he became the youngest champion ever, somebody gave him the opportunity for greatness. I think Jon will eventually come back and face Tom Aspinall.

“But if he decides Saturday night that’s it, it’s over, it’s his right to make that decision. What this guy has accomplished, nobody else has even come close to accomplishing and he’s the greatest of all time. So we’ll see.”

White is rather adamant when addressing Jones either taking the Aspinall fight or calling it a career but he refuses to believe that the reigning UFC heavyweight champion is actually ducking anybody.

That narrative has plagued Jones in the days leading up to his fight against Miocic but White promises that couldn’t be further from the truth.

“For anybody to say he’s ducking anybody, Jon Jones is like 37, 38 years old, he’s fought everybody,” White said. “He’s fought all the best in the world, in their prime, been doing it since he was 23 years old. He doesn’t duck. And he’s undefeated, he’s never lost a fight, which is unbelievable in like 16 years.”

For all the ways Jones has refused to even acknowledge Aspinall as a potential opponent, White won’t close the door on that fight actually happening down the road.

If Jones wins on Saturday, White expects him to take some time off before deciding whether or not he wants to compete again. Assuming Jones wants to return for another fight, White is confident he’ll take on Aspinall.

“That is classic Jon Jones right there. Classic Jon Jones,” White said. “Jon will do what he does on Saturday, if he wins, he’ll disappear for a while and then that competitive spirit will start bubbling up again and then money will talk. If he doesn’t decide to retire, he absolutely, positively fights Aspinall.

When Jon Jones steps into the cage Saturday at UFC 309, it’ll mark more than 16 years that he’s competed as a professional fighter.

The UFC snagged him within his first year of competition. He fought six times regionally before the promotion came calling. All eight of those bouts occurred between April and July 2008.

One of those fights was against fellow future UFC fighter Parker Porter in Wilmington, Mass., for World Championship Fighting (now Combat FC). Jones, then 20, would sign with the UFC one win later.

Up until now, the only footage that existed in the public forum was a grainy handheld angle from cageside. However, promoter Joe Cavallaro released professional footage of the fight Thursday for all to enjoy – for as long as it lasted.

Ahead of UFC 309, check out the previously unreleased video of Jones vs. Porter in the video above.

Fighters competing at UFC 309 are set to wear older versions of gloves, which were initially replaced by a new design that debuted back in June.

No one was happier than heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Jones returns to action in the main event Saturday night against Stipe Miocic. The bout marks Jones’ first fight since March 2023 so his latest appearance was the first opportunity he had to use the new gloves. It turns out Jones wasn’t a fan of the re-design after receiving a pair of gloves to break in and use in the weeks leading up to his fight in New York.

“I’m really excited about the old gloves,” Jones said during UFC 309 media day. “I got sent a pair of the new gloves several weeks ago. I tried them on and I thought they were tight. I used to fit in XL and in the new glove I had to put on a 3XL. The shape, curving your hands like that, they very uncomfortable for me.

“I was actually really stressed thinking about how I’m going to go into fight week wearing these gloves that I don’t even want to train in.”

The UFC ultimately decided to lessen Jones’ burden after he received a call from UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell to inform him that the old gloves would be employed for his fight against Miocic.

While promotion officials previously confirmed to MMA Fighting that the old gloves would return for UFC 309, it’s unclear if there are plans to return to the new gloves for future events.

Either way, Jones was happy to find out he’d still be using the same gloves that the UFC employed throughout his whole career.

“I got a phone call recently, Hunter [Campbell] said, ‘Everyone on this card are veterans, why put a bunch of vets in the new gloves? Let’s give you guys all what you’re used to,’” Jones ssif.

“It was a major relief to my coach Brandon [Gibson], who wraps my hands. It was a major relief to me as well.”