An Unlikely Prizefighter

To hear Carlos Leal Miranda tell it, he happened upon his profession.

“I didn’t choose fighting. Fighting chose me,” he told Sherdog.com. “One day when I was young, I walked into an academy simply looking to do some weight training. The same location had muay thai classes. I could see them when I was working out.” Curiosity soon got the best of him. “I decided to do a trial class, [and] I haven’t stopped since,” Miranda said. “The more I trained, the more I liked it. Then I started adding other martial arts, like no-gi submissions and traditional jiu-jitsu. Growing up, my brothers and I always enjoyed watching fights, but I never imagined it’d be my career. I’m sure it’s what I’d like to do for the rest of my life.”

Miranda will set out in search of his first victory as a member of the Ultimate Fighting Championship roster when he faces Alex Morono in a UFC 313 welterweight prelim on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The 30-year-old Brazilian returns to the stage with wins in 15 of his past 18 bouts. However, Miranda has not fought since he wound up on the wrong side of a contentious and widely panned unanimous decision against Rinat Fakhretdinov at UFC 308 in October. It remains a sore subject.

“I had a week to get ready and I wasn’t training to face someone with his style, but I’m always ready,” Miranda said. “When the UFC called me, I didn’t miss that opportunity. In my opinion, I won that fight. I’m sure that he and his team know that he lost. I didn’t lose to him. I lost to the judges. The entire world knows he lost. I’m sure we’ll meet again, and I’ll use the lessons I learned to keep it out of the judges’ hands. They won’t be able to save him [in a rematch].”

For now, “The Lion” figures to have his hands full with Morono. Always a tough out, the crafty Fortis MMA rep sports a 13-8 record across his 21 assignments in the UFC. Morono, 34, heads into the match on the heels of back-to-back defeats to Niko Price and Daniel Rodriguez, the latter via split scorecards. He has never lost three fights in a row.

“Alex is very tough, skilled and experienced,” Miranda said. “He’s hard to beat. Few people have managed to knock him out. He puts on good fights. That’s why he’s been in the UFC for so long. I know that he has very good jiu-jitsu, and he’s a guillotine specialist. He has a heavy right hand and flexible legs. We’ve mapped out his game since we were matched up, so there will be no surprises. I’m sure we’ll have a great fight. I expect I’ll knock him out, possibly in the second or third round. I’ll do what few men have been able to do.”

Miranda sees it as a starting point.

“My plan is to become champion,” he said. “I’ll do everything in my power to make that a reality. This year, my goal is to go undefeated in three to four fights. I wish to slowly work my way up the rankings until I can face the best fighters in my weight class.”