Preview: UFC 313 Prelims

Welterweights

Carlos Leal Miranda (21-6, 0-1 UFC) vs. Alex Morono (24-11, 13-8 UFC)

ODDS: Miranda (-700), Morono (+500)

Miranda technically looks for his first UFC win in this assignment. He was a strong pickup for the UFC on short notice in October. The Brazilian’s game might be fairly one dimensional, as he’s a straight-ahead power striker, but he had been undeniably successful at a high level during a 12-year professional career. Rinat Fakhretdinov figured to be a difficult test for “The Lion” in his first UFC fight, but Leal Miranda did surprisingly well to neutralize the Russian’s wrestling, land some hard shots for three rounds and seemingly walk away with the clear decision win—only for all three judges to give the fight to his counterpart in one of the worst decisions in recent memory. As a result, Miranda looks for a rebound that shouldn’t exist against Morono, who really could use a win to break up a recent rough patch. Morono has been an unsung hero of the welterweight division during his near decade on the roster, as “The Great White” is an engaging matchup for just about anyone. A strong game planner and adapter, Morono usually stays crafty enough to give his opponent a tough fight, win or lose, but he’s almost always at a clear athleticism and coordination deficit that puts him at risk of getting pushed out of a fight. As he has entered his mid-30s, Morono might have lost most of his narrow margin for error athletically. He has still been savvy enough to survive, but his gas tank has started to betray him and left him unable to make up the difference over 15 minutes against harder hitters. That figures to be the case here once again in this fight with Miranda, who might just have the power to be able to close the show on Morono outright. The pick is Miranda via second-round knockout.

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