The supervillain Lex Luthor returns.@Vithai matches up against the debuting Azaitar THIS Sunday. #UFCHamburg pic.twitter.com/wU8efpaHaC
— UFC (@ufc) July 18, 2018
Middleweights
Vitor Miranda (12-6) vs. Abu Azaitar (13-1-1, 1 N/C)
Odds: Azaitar (-190), Miranda (+165)
Vitor Miranda has had a surprisingly solid run coming off season three of TUF: Brazil, but the veteran kickboxer is in the position of badly needing a win here. Miranda became an easy fan favorite to those who watched the show, partially due to a harrowing life story involving the death of his son, and partially due to his simply coming across as a likable guy, and his fighting style doesn't hurt things; Miranda's a fighter willing to both take damage and give it right back. Early on in his UFC career, that made for some fun fights, with his comeback knockouts of Jake Collier and Marcelo Guimaraes being notable highlights. But in his last few bouts, "Lex Luthor" has had issues with opponents who can pressure or wrestle him; Chris Camozzi had possibly the best wrestling performance of his career in a one-sided win over Miranda, and after a year off, Miranda had little answers for the wrestling game of Marvin Vettori. After another year-long injury layoff, Miranda returns, likely with his back against the wall, taking on German UFC newcomer Abu Azaitar in Azaitar's backyard.
Fighting out of Cologne, Azaitar's put together a solid resume, going undefeated in his last nine fights, which span across notable promotions like KSW, Cage Warriors, ACB, and World Series of Fighting. Azaitar's proven to be a solid action fighter with some knockout power, and his originally scheduled UFC debut, against Siyar Bahadurzada this past September, would've been a banger. But despite Azaitar missing that bout due to injury, things worked out for him; he gets to debut in his home country of Germany, and - meaning this as no slight against Miranda - he gets a more winnable bout here. Already 32, I see Azaitar more as a future gatekeeper/action fighter than any sort of contender, but he should make for some fun fights and a solid test for middleweight prospects after he gets his feet wet here.
Like a few fights on this card, the purpose of this one seems to be to have a fun bout rather than to set up anything huge going forward. Miranda's nearing age 40, and Azaitar appears to be a low-ceiling prospect, but this should wind up being an entertaining striking match. Azaitar has a little bit of ability to implement the game that has recently given Miranda trouble; he'll be the more powerful fighter inside the cage, and he's shown the occasional willingness to grind out an opponent, even if he's at his strongest as a power striker. But Miranda should be the quicker fighter, and also fights much longer, so I see him being able to pepper away at Azaitar with his kicking game and mostly stay out of trouble. Assuming neither guy knocks the other out, which is a possibility, this figures to be a really fun, close decision, but at the end of the day, I don't see Azaitar's attack being diverse enough to take Miranda out of a rhythm or keep him on his toes. A well-made fight, but my pick is Miranda via decision.
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