UFC analyst Vitor Miranda on closing before Moreno vs. Figueiredo 3, breaks down Brazil’s 2022 title hopes

UFC analyst Vitor Miranda is confident Brazil could end 2022 with a handful of belts in the promotion.

the Ultimate Fighter: Brazil 4 The heavyweight runner-up became a successful content producer in the final years of his UFC career, racking up over 400,000 YouTube subscribers before signing as an analyst for the UFC in his homeland. .

As 2022 kicks off with Deiveson Figueiredo looking to regain the flyweight championship at Saturday’s UFC 270 in Anaheim, Calif., Miranda sees more opportunities for Brazil to win titles inside the octagon. .

“Lex Luthor” Stopped By MMA Fighting’s Portuguese Language Podcast Trocação Franca to smash Brazil’s best championship hopes.

Flyweight: Too close to call

“I can’t predict [this fight] because the other two were much too close. Deiveson’s style is all about power and strength and Moreno comes in and out, so it’s a question of who can impose their game first. If Deiveson can land good clean hands from the start [he has the advantage]. Otherwise, Brandon Moreno comes forward slowly and steadily and makes things more difficult. I don’t know what will happen, but it will definitely be a great fight.

Bantam-weight: Jose Aldo’s second UFC belt

“Aldo is a phenomenon, a sports legend, and what happened [against Conor McGregor] was a crazy loss that will never happen again. McGregor entered his head but not in terms of fear, but pissed him off so much to destroy McGregor that he fought with his usual style, which is calm, aware and disciplined.

“He likes being in that weight class and is excited, and a fighter needs that motivation to conquer more. I believe Aldo has what it takes to attempt another title run and win that belt. Petr Yan is a badass, he is tough and has a similar fighting style to Aldo. He starts out slow, studies what his opponent is doing, then he starts to grow – and he peaks the moment his opponent slows down. That’s why I think it’s a tough fight for Aldo. It’s a similar style, but I think he has enough technique, experience and thirst to become a champion.

LightweightCharles Oliveira beats Justin Gaethje

“I think it’s a good match-up [for Oliveira]. No one thought he would knock [Michael] Chandler came out and he was hurt in the first round. And then we had Chandler’s fight with Gaethje and it was a war, but Gaethje couldn’t let it go. I think Charles has what it takes to win, especially because wrestlers tend to give up their backs to get back on their feet, and that’s Charles’ thing. Charles is on a roll. Gaethje could come back and dominate in the future, but for now I think Charles is going in the direction of staying champion.

Welterweight: Vicente Luque can ‘disturb’ Kamaru Usman

“Vicente Luque’s striking is great and I think Usman doesn’t have any stand-ups to go with it. Of course, when Usman fights a better striker, he goes for his crazy wrestling game, which he excels at. , but Luque is not an easy fighter to read and prepare because he is super versatile, has dangerous attacks, and I think he can upset Usman Usman is in for a great time, but there is always a day Usman’s striking evolves every time he fights, but wrestling is still his thing – and we need a few years to get to that level of experience.

Average weight: Alex Pereira is the one

“I am upset by this reservation between him and [Bruno] ‘Blind.’ I fought ‘Blindado’ on TUF and he has absurd stone hands. I can say I was one of the few who ate those hands and survived to tell the tale [laughs]. It’s a shame that one of them has to stay behind, they both deserved to be on top. But I hope it’s an exciting fight and even the loser earns respect [he deserves]. But I think right now I would invest a lot of money on ‘Poatan’ because I think he has what it takes to beat [Israel] Adesanya. I think it would be a kickboxing match with small gloves. I’m sure Adesanya wouldn’t try to take ‘Poatan’ down. The octagon is too big and Adesanya is a specialist in the way he moves. He would have plenty of room to move around and work, [but Pereira] would catch him with a punch in 15 or 25 minutes.

Light heavyweight: Jiri Prochazka is ‘super dangerous’

“This guy is dangerous. It comes with something crazy out of nowhere from every angle. Knees, elbows… It’s a super dangerous fight for Glover if he stays on the outside. He has to do what he does best: put pressure on him and keep his hands on his face, like he did against [Jan] Blachowicz. You cannot give space to Prochazka to create. He is even reckless. He keeps his hands low and bounces all over the place, but you can’t predict what he’ll create.

“You better choke him out as fast as you can and once Glover does that, it’s his fight. Prochazka moves well but keeps his hands low and it’s hard to stay upright after taking a hand from Glover. He’ll keep his hands low to defend takedowns and do some feints, and [Teixeira] can enter with his hand and even knock him out.

Straw weight: An away win for Marina Rodriguez

“I really like Marina’s style. I really do. She is very intelligent. Her head coach is doing a great job, they are very strategic and she has a bright future [in the UFC]. I think she will rise to the top and fight for that belt.

Esther Lin, MMAFighting.com

Women’s bantamweight: Amanda Nunes’ revenge

“The only person who can answer [what happened at UFC 269] is Amanda herself, and maybe not even her. The pressure, two belts, training so long to stay champion, everything counts. And then a loss like that becomes more natural, it was like she had had enough. “You know what, let’s go for the next one.” She kind of slowed down. It was weird to watch. But, if you really think about it, we are human beings and there are times when we are not well or something has not worked out, or sometimes we have an injury that has set it back, but the However, if she really wants that belt back, I think Julianna won’t last long.